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coastal bush lupine, tree lupine, yellow bush lupine

Lupinus arbustus

grassland lupine (ssp. neolaxiflorus), long-spur lupine, Montana lupine (ssp. pseudoparviflorus), spur lupine

Habit Shrubs, usually 5–20 dm, green-glabrous or silver-hairy. Herbs, perennial, 2–7 dm, green or gray-silky.
Stems

ascending or erect, branched, woody.

erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched.

Leaves

cauline;

stipules 8–12 mm;

petiole 2–3(–6) cm;

leaflets 5–12, blades 20–60 × 3–10 mm, adaxial surface glabrous.

cauline and basal;

stipules 4–9 mm;

petiole 2–16 cm;

leaflets 7–10(–13), blades 20–70 × 3–15 mm, adaxial surface strigose.

Racemes

10–30 cm;

flowers whorled or not.

open, 3–18 cm;

flowers whorled.

Peduncles

4–10 cm;

bracts deciduous, 8–10 mm.

2–5 cm;

bracts deciduous, 3–6 mm.

Pedicels

4–10 mm.

1–7 mm.

Flowers

14–18 mm;

calyx bulge or spur 0–1 mm, abaxial lobe entire, 5–7 mm, adaxial lobe 2-toothed, 5–9 mm;

corolla usually yellow, rarely lilac to purple, banner patch darker or not or white, banner glabrous abaxially, lower keel margins glabrous, adaxial margin ciliate from claw to tip.

8–14 mm;

calyx spur distinct, 1–3 mm, abaxial lobe 3-toothed, 2.5–5 mm, 1–3 mm, adaxial lobe 2-toothed, 2–4 mm;

corolla blue, purple, pink, white, or yellowish, banner patch white, yellowish, or absent, banner hairy abaxially, wings with dense hair patch outside near tip, lower keel margins glabrous, adaxial margin ciliate.

Legumes

4–7 cm, hairy.

2–3 cm, silky.

Cotyledons

deciduous, petiolate.

deciduous, petiolate.

Seeds

8–12, black to tan, often striped lighter, 4–5 mm.

3–6, tan, 5–6 mm.

2n

= 48.

Lupinus arboreus

Lupinus arbustus

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jul. Flowering May–Jul.
Habitat Coastal bluffs, dunes, disturbed sand. Open sagebrush scrub or mixed-conifer forests.
Elevation 0–100 m. (0–300 ft.) 1500–3000 m. (4900–9800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA; BC; Mexico (Baja California) [Introduced in South America (Argentina, Chile), Europe, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia (including Tasmania)]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; OR; UT; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lupinus arboreus is known from the central California coast southward to northern Baja California; it was introduced as a sand binder and has become naturalized in northern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia.

Lupinus arboreus grades into L. rivularis in the North Coast of California. Plants with yellow petals and sweet-smelling flowers are widely cultivated as a sand binder. Hairier plants from the western San Francisco Bay area with yellow banners and blue wings have been called var. eximius; plants with glabrous leaflets and purple petals have been called L. propinquus. Lupinus arboreus hybridizes with L. littoralis and probably other species. Seeds of L. arboreus species are toxic.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Lupinus arbustus is known from the Cascade and Klamath ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and the Great Basin area in California; Owyhee Desert in Idaho and Oregon; eastern Washington and western Montana; and western Juab and Tooele counties, Utah.

Lupinus arbustus is separated from the argenteus group by the presence of hairs on the corolla wings. Recognition of subspecies and varieties of this already complex species leads to precarious separation among taxa.

Lupinus variegatus A. Heller (1912, not Poiret 1814) is an illegitimate name that pertains here.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Lupinus Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Lupinus
Sibling taxa
L. adsurgens, L. affinis, L. albicaulis, L. albifrons, L. andersonii, L. angustiflorus, L. antoninus, L. apertus, L. arbustus, L. arcticus, L. argenteus, L. arizonicus, L. benthamii, L. bicolor, L. brevicaulis, L. breweri, L. cervinus, L. chamissonis, L. citrinus, L. concinnus, L. constancei, L. covillei, L. croceus, L. dalesiae, L. diffusus, L. duranii, L. elatus, L. elmeri, L. excubitus, L. flavoculatus, L. formosus, L. fulcratus, L. gracilentus, L. grayi, L. guadalupensis, L. havardii, L. hirsutissimus, L. huachucanus, L. hyacinthinus, L. kingii, L. kuschei, L. lapidicola, L. latifolius, L. lepidus, L. leucophyllus, L. littoralis, L. longifolius, L. ludovicianus, L. luteolus, L. magnificus, L. malacophyllus, L. microcarpus, L. nanus, L. neomexicanus, L. nevadensis, L. nipomensis, L. nootkatensis, L. obtusilobus, L. odoratus, L. onustus, L. oreganus, L. pachylobus, L. padrecrowleyi, L. peirsonii, L. perennis, L. polyphyllus, L. pratensis, L. pusillus, L. rivularis, L. sabineanus, L. sericatus, L. sericeus, L. shockleyi, L. sierrae-blancae, L. sparsiflorus, L. spectabilis, L. stiversii, L. subcarnosus, L. succulentus, L. sulphureus, L. texensis, L. tidestromii, L. tracyi, L. truncatus, L. uncialis, L. villosus, L. westianus
L. adsurgens, L. affinis, L. albicaulis, L. albifrons, L. andersonii, L. angustiflorus, L. antoninus, L. apertus, L. arboreus, L. arcticus, L. argenteus, L. arizonicus, L. benthamii, L. bicolor, L. brevicaulis, L. breweri, L. cervinus, L. chamissonis, L. citrinus, L. concinnus, L. constancei, L. covillei, L. croceus, L. dalesiae, L. diffusus, L. duranii, L. elatus, L. elmeri, L. excubitus, L. flavoculatus, L. formosus, L. fulcratus, L. gracilentus, L. grayi, L. guadalupensis, L. havardii, L. hirsutissimus, L. huachucanus, L. hyacinthinus, L. kingii, L. kuschei, L. lapidicola, L. latifolius, L. lepidus, L. leucophyllus, L. littoralis, L. longifolius, L. ludovicianus, L. luteolus, L. magnificus, L. malacophyllus, L. microcarpus, L. nanus, L. neomexicanus, L. nevadensis, L. nipomensis, L. nootkatensis, L. obtusilobus, L. odoratus, L. onustus, L. oreganus, L. pachylobus, L. padrecrowleyi, L. peirsonii, L. perennis, L. polyphyllus, L. pratensis, L. pusillus, L. rivularis, L. sabineanus, L. sericatus, L. sericeus, L. shockleyi, L. sierrae-blancae, L. sparsiflorus, L. spectabilis, L. stiversii, L. subcarnosus, L. succulentus, L. sulphureus, L. texensis, L. tidestromii, L. tracyi, L. truncatus, L. uncialis, L. villosus, L. westianus
Synonyms L. arboreus var. eximius, L. propinquus L. arbustus subsp. calcaratus, L. arbustus var. montanus, L. arbustus subsp. neolaxiflorus, L. arbustus subsp. pseudoparviflorus, L. arbustus subsp. silvicola, L. caesius, L. caudatus var. submanens, L. caudatus var. subtenellus, L. elegantulus, L. inyoensis var. demissus, L. laxiflorus var. calcaratus, L. laxiflorus var. cognatus, L. laxiflorus var. elmerianus, L. laxiflorus var. lyleianus, L. laxiflorus var. pseudoparviflorus, L. laxiflorus var. silvicola, L. laxiflorus var. villosulus, L. lyleianus, L. mucronulatus var. umatillensis, L. multitinctus, L. noldekeae, L. proteanus, L. pseudoparviflorus, L. silvicola, L. wenatchensis, L. yakimensis
Name authority Sims: Bot. Mag. 18: plate 682. (1803) Douglas: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 15: plate 1230. (1829)
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