Lupinus bogotensis

Native from Colombia to western Bolivia, Lupinus bogotensis, known in Colombia as altramuz, is a subshrub of tropical mountain habitats. Its hand-shaped leaves have several leaflets radiating from one point, and its pea-shaped flowers form upright clusters in shades of white, blue and pinkish purple. The pods contain flattened, rounded seeds. The species has been studied for restoring high Andean forest near Bogotá. In a trial near Chisacá reservoir, native tree seedlings grew and survived better alongside lupin shrubs planted at low or medium densities than in control plots. Photographed in the eastern Andes mountain range of Colombia.