The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links
Photo is of parent taxon

silvery lupine

Habit Herbs 1–10 dm, glabrous or pubescent. Herbs, perennial, 1–15 dm, green and glabrous or silvery-hairy; from superficial or shallowly buried root crown.
Stems

branched.

erect or ascending, green or purplish, clustered, branched or unbranched.

Leaves

usually cauline, basal leaves usually absent at flowering, if present then petioles less than 3 times as long as leaflets;

leaflet blades flat, oblanceolate, surfaces glabrous or pubescent adaxially.

basal and/or cauline;

stipules 2–12 mm;

petiole 1–15 cm;

leaflets (5 or)6–10, blades 10–60 × 4–10 mm, abaxial surface hairy, adaxial surface glabrous or hairy (but not strigose).

Racemes

loose, 5–16(–25) cm;

flowers whorled or not.

Peduncles

(1–)4–25(–30) cm;

bracts usually deciduous, 3–4 mm.

Pedicels

1–2.5 mm.

(1–)2–5(–7) mm.

Flowers

6–8 mm;

calyx bulge 0–1 mm;

corolla pale blue with brown banner patch, banner glabrous or hairy abaxially.

5–15 mm;

calyx 4–8 mm, bulge or spur 0–3 mm (may be variable on plant), abaxial lobe entire or 3-toothed, adaxial lobe entire or 2-toothed;

corolla usually blue, sometimes purple, violet, pink, lilac, or white, banner patch yellowish to whitish, blue, brown, or absent, banner not much reflexed-recurved beyond midpoint, this less than 3 mm proximal to apex, banner glabrous or pubescent abaxially, wings glabrous, lower keel margins glabrous, upper margins ciliate.

Legumes

(1–)2–3 cm, hairy or silky.

Cotyledons

deciduous, petiolate.

Seeds

(2 or)3–5(or 6), tan, brown, or red.

2n

= 48.

Lupinus argenteus var. fulvomaculatus

Lupinus argenteus

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Cool, moist mountain meadows, stream banks, lakeshores, forests.
Elevation 2000–3600 m. (6600–11800 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; NM; UT
from USDA
w North America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Variety fulvomaculatus is known from the Abajo and La Sal mountains in southeastern Utah, mountainous Colorado, in the Santa Fe National Forest and vicinity in New Mexico, and in northeastern Apache County, Arizona, where it is rare.

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

Varieties 14 (14 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Calyx spur 1–3 mm.
→ 2
2. Flowers in profile appearing open, spur pronounced.
var. heteranthus
2. Flowers in profile appearing closed; spur less pronounced.
→ 3
3. Petioles of proximal cauline leaves 1.5–3 cm.
var. argophyllus
3. Petioles of proximal cauline leaves 3–12 cm.
var. utahensis
1. Calyx bulge 0–1 mm, but not elongated into a spur.
→ 4
4. Leaflets oblanceolate, flat, green, surfaces glabrous or adaxially pubescent; plants of cool, moist mountain meadows, stream banks, lakeshores.
→ 5
5. Corollas pale blue with brown banner patch; pedicels 1–2.5 mm.
var. fulvomaculatus
5. Corollas usually blue with yellow banner spot or none; pedicels usually 3–4 mm.
→ 6
6. Stems unbranched and racemes sol­itary, terminal.
var. rubricaulis
6. Stems branched, giving rise to several racemes.
→ 7
7. Corolla wings (7.5–)8–10 mm.
var. argentatus
7. Corolla wings 5–7.5 mm.
var. parviflorus
4. Leaflets oblanceolate or elliptic-oblanceolate, narrow and often folded, surfaces gray or silver-pubescent; plants of dry open areas, foothills to mountains.
→ 8
8. Stem hairs descending in backward direction or widely spreading.
var. palmeri
8. Stem hairs forwardly appressed.
→ 9
9. Flowers large, (7–)8–15 mm.
→ 10
10. Basal and cauline leaves present at flowering.
var. montigenus
10. Basal leaves absent at flowering.
→ 11
11. Flowers (7–)8–12 mm.
var. argenteus
11. Flowers 12–15 mm.
var. moabensis
9. Flowers small, 5–7(–9) mm.
→ 12
12. Banners densely pubescent.
→ 40g
40g. Lupinus argenteus var. holosericeus.
→ 12
12. Banner glabrous or thinly strigulose abaxially.
→ 13
13. Wings 5.5–7 mm; banner usually thinly strigulose abaxially; Kai­bab Plateau, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah; elevation 2000–2800 m.
var. hillii
13. Wings 5–6 mm; banner glabrous abaxially; Sierra Nevada, California, adjacent Nevada; elevation 1500–3500 m.
var. meionanthus
Source FNA vol. 11. FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Lupinus > Lupinus argenteus Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae > Lupinus
Sibling taxa
L. argenteus var. argentatus, L. argenteus var. argenteus, L. argenteus var. argophyllus, L. argenteus var. heteranthus, L. argenteus var. hillii, L. argenteus var. holosericeus, L. argenteus var. meionanthus, L. argenteus var. moabensis, L. argenteus var. montigenus, L. argenteus var. palmeri, L. argenteus var. parviflorus, L. argenteus var. rubricaulis, L. argenteus var. utahensis
L. adsurgens, L. affinis, L. albicaulis, L. albifrons, L. andersonii, L. angustiflorus, L. antoninus, L. apertus, L. arboreus, L. arbustus, L. arcticus, 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
Subordinate taxa
L. argenteus var. argentatus, L. argenteus var. argenteus, L. argenteus var. argophyllus, L. argenteus var. fulvomaculatus, L. argenteus var. heteranthus, L. argenteus var. hillii, L. argenteus var. meionanthus, L. argenteus var. moabensis, L. argenteus var. montigenus, L. argenteus var. palmeri, L. argenteus var. parviflorus, L. argenteus var. rubricaulis, L. argenteus var. utahensis
Synonyms L. fulvomaculatus, L. ingratus
Name authority (Payson) Barneby: Great Basin Naturalist 46: 257. (1986) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 468. (1814)
Web links