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big-leaf lupine, blue lupine, bog lupine, large-leaf lupine

Mohave lupine, Mojave lupine, Mojave royal lupine

Habit Herbs, perennial, 1–15 dm, green, glabrous or hairy; caudex subterranean and divisions rhizomelike, or superficial and divisions closely tufted. Herbs, annual, 1–3 dm, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely pubescent when young, rarely at anthesis, hairs less than 0.5 mm.
Stems

erect, tufted, unbranched, stout, usually hollow.

basally branched or unbranched.

Leaves

basal and cauline;

stipules not leaflike, green to silvery, 5–40 mm;

petiole 3–45 cm, basal long-petiolate and forming a basal tuft, cauline petioles shorter distally;

leaflets (5 or)6–12(–17), blades (10–)30–150 × 5–25 mm, adaxial surface hairy or glabrous.

basal;

petiole 2–12 cm;

leaflets 5–9, blades bright green, 8–24 × 3–10 mm, adaxial surface glabrous.

Racemes

open, 6–40 cm;

flowers ± whorled.

4–25 cm;

flowers spirally arranged.

Peduncles

3–13 cm;

bracts deciduous, 7–11 mm.

hollow, 6–15 cm;

bracts persistent, straight, 2–4 mm, tips sparsely ciliate.

Pedicels

(2–)3–15 mm.

3–7 mm.

Flowers

9–15 mm;

calyx 4–8 mm, bulge or spur 0–1 mm, lobes entire;

corolla violet to lavender, pink, or white, banner patch yellow to white, sometimes turning red-purple, banner glabrous abaxially, keel upcurved, glabrous, ciliate, or ciliolate.

7–10 mm;

calyx lobes sometimes ciliate at tips, abaxial lobe entire, 4–5 mm, adaxial lobe rounded or shallowly 2-toothed, 3–3.5 mm;

corolla deep blue-purple, banner spot white or yellow becoming magenta, keel glabrous.

Legumes

2.5–5 × 0.7–1 cm, hairy.

1.5–2.5 cm, adaxial suture undulate and ciliate with long dense hairs, sides with a few short hairs becoming scaly on drying.

Cotyledons

deciduous, petiolate.

persistent, disclike, sessile.

Seeds

3–9.

2–6, ridged.

Lupinus polyphyllus

Lupinus odoratus

Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Creosote bush scrub, Joshua tree woodland, sandy desert flats, open areas.
Elevation 500–1600 m. (1600–5200 ft.)
Distribution
from USDA
w North America [Introduced in South America (Argentina, Chile), Eurasia, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 6 (6 in the flora).

Lupinus polyphyllus was hybridized with L. arboreus and other species to create the Russell Lupine garden hybrid, which is invasive and occurs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

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

The fresh flowers of Lupinus odoratus smell like violets. Pilose plants can be confused with L. flavoculatus.

Lupinus odoratus occurs in the Mojave Desert region of California, northward to Inyo and Mono counties, and eastward into southern Nevada and Mohave County, Arizona.

The name Lupinus odoratus A. Heller is to be proposed for conservation against L. odoratus F. Dietrich (1836), a likely synonym of L. nanus.

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

Key
1. Adaxial surfaces of leaves silky strigulose, gray or silver.
var. humicola
1. Adaxial surfaces of leaves glabrous or ± puber­ulent, green.
→ 2
2. Herbs 5.5–12 dm; adaxial keel glabrous; plants of meadows, streams, or shores.
→ 3
3. Leaflets 9–17, blades 60–150 mm; widely distributed, Alaska and British Columbia southward to California, eastward to Montana, introduced in Ontario and Michigan, eastward to Prince Edward Island, and southward to Massachusetts and Maryland.
var. polyphyllus
3. Leaflets 5–11, blades 35–100 mm; British Columbia, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming.
var. burkei
2. Herbs (1–)1.5–6.5 dm; adaxial keel ciliolate; plants of dry or vernally moist sites.
→ 4
4. Caudices subterranean, divisions rhizome­like; plants of barren clay sites in oak chaparral and sagebrush, 1200–3000 m.
var. ammophilus
4. Caudices above ground, divisions closely tufted, not rhizomelike; plants of valleys, foothill canyons, sagebrush scrub, arid microhabitats, 600–3000 m.
→ 5
5. Herbs (2–)3–6.5 dm; longest leaflet blades 35–110 mm; plants widespread in valleys and foothill canyons at 600–3000 m; Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.
var. prunophilus
5. Herbs (1–)1.5–4 dm; longest leaflet blades 20–45 mm; plants of sagebrush scrub and arid microhabitats at 1000–2500 m; California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.
var. saxosus
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. 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. 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. 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. polyphyllus var. ammophilus, L. polyphyllus var. burkei, L. polyphyllus var. humicola, L. polyphyllus var. polyphyllus, L. polyphyllus var. prunophilus, L. polyphyllus var. saxosus
Synonyms L. odoratus var. pilosellus
Name authority Lindley: Bot. Reg. 13: plate 1096. (1827) A. Heller: Muhlenbergia 2: 71. (1905)
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