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Lupinus brevicaulis

sand lupine, short stem blue lupine, short-stem lupine

Pursh's silky lupine, silky lupine

Habit Herbs, annual, usually less than 1 dm, pubescent, hairs more than 1 mm. Herbs, perennial, (2–)4–14 dm, silky-strigose to finely hirsute (with both short and long hairs).
Stems

very short, tufted, branched.

erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched distally.

Leaves

cauline, crowded near base;

stipules well developed;

petiole 1–6 cm;

leaflets (3 or)5–9, blades 8–20 × 2–9 mm, adaxial surface glabrous.

mostly cauline, basal normally absent;

stipules 5–7 mm;

petiole 2–14 cm (longer proximally becoming shorter distally);

leaflets 5–13, blades 10–60(–90) × 3–11(–19) mm, surfaces usually silky, rarely thinly silky appearing glabrous abaxially.

Racemes

dense, 3–16-flowered, 1–8 cm;

flowers spirally arranged, crowded.

12–25(–42) cm;

flowers whorled or spirally arranged.

Peduncles

1–8(–10) cm;

bracts persistent, straight, 2–3 mm.

2–4 cm;

bracts subdeciduous, 5–8 mm.

Pedicels

0.3–1.5 mm.

2–5(–6) mm.

Flowers

6–8 mm;

calyx abaxial lobe entire or shallowly cleft, ± 6 mm, adaxial lobe 2-toothed, 3 mm, less than 1/2 as long as abaxial;

corolla bright blue, banner spot white or yellow, keel glabrous.

8–14(–18) mm;

calyx sometimes slightly saccate, abaxial lobe subentire or entire, 5 mm, adaxial lobe 2-fid, 6 mm;

corolla pale purple to bright blue, sometimes yellowish or whitish, banner spot white to yellow turning brown, banner well reflexed-recurved at or proximal to midpoint, this 3.5–6 mm proximal to apex, keel moderately curved, banner silky-hairy abaxially, adaxial keel ciliate almost full length, not reaching tip.

Legumes

not undulate, 1 cm, thinly pilose to coarsely hirsute.

2–3.7 cm, densely pilosulous.

Cotyledons

persistent, disclike, sessile.

deciduous, petiolate.

Seeds

1 or 2, smooth.

(2 or)3–5(–7).

Lupinus brevicaulis

Lupinus sericeus

Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Sandy washes, open areas, grasslands, pinyon pine-juniper forests, creosote bush scrub, mesquite. Meadows, dry banks, bunch­grass prairies, sagebrush scrub, openings in conifer forests.
Elevation 300–2400 m. (1000–7900 ft.) 200–3100 m. (700–10200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; OR; UT; WY; Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Lupinus brevicaulis resembles L. flavoculatus except that its flowers are smaller.

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

Lupinus sericeus is widespread and common from the southern interior mountains in British Columbia and southwestern Alberta southward to eastern Washington and eastern Oregon to northern New Mexico and northwestern Arizona, northeastern Nevada through Idaho and Wyoming to the Black Hills in South Dakota.

Plants with creamy or white flowers in southeastern Washington are known as subsp. asotinensis. D. Isely (1998) recognized this taxon based on petal color and distribution, but since white and yellow flowers occur throughout the range of Lupinus sericeus, it is not formally recognized here.

Lupinus pureriae C. P. Smith may be a hybrid derived in part from L. sericeus, according to an annotation by D. B. Dunn on the holotype (CAS0008254).

(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. arboreus, L. arbustus, L. arcticus, L. argenteus, L. arizonicus, L. benthamii, L. bicolor, 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. 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. 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. aeger-ovium, L. aliumbellatus, L. alpicola, L. amniculi-salicis, L. amplus, L. arceuthinus, L. bakeri, L. bakeri subsp. amplus, L. barbiger, L. blankinshipii, L. buckinghamii, L. comatus, L. diaboli-septem, L. dichrous, L. falsocomatus, L. fikerianus, L. flavicaulis, L. flexuosus, L. garfieldensis, L. habrocomus, L. hermanworkii, L. hiulcoflorus, L. huffmannii, L. jonesii, L. larsonianus, L. leucopsis, L. marianus, L. ornatus, L. puroviridus, L. quercus-jugi, L. ramosus, L. rickeri, L. sericeus subsp. asotinensis, L. sericeus var. asotinensis, L. sericeus var. barbiger, L. sericeus var. fikerianus, L. sericeus var. flexuosus, L. sericeus subsp. huffmannii, L. sericeus var. jonesii, L. sericeus var. wallowensis, L. spiraeaphilus, L. subulatus, L. tuckerianus
Name authority S. Watson: Botany (Fortieth Parallel), 53, plate 7, figs. 1–4. (1871) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 468. (1813)
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