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Pursh's silky lupine, silky lupine

Habit Herbs, perennial, (2–)4–14 dm, silky-strigose to finely hirsute (with both short and long hairs).
Stems

erect, ascending, or decumbent, branched distally.

Leaves

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

12–25(–42) cm;

flowers whorled or spirally arranged.

Peduncles

2–4 cm;

bracts subdeciduous, 5–8 mm.

Pedicels

2–5(–6) mm.

Flowers

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

2–3.7 cm, densely pilosulous.

Cotyledons

deciduous, petiolate.

Seeds

(2 or)3–5(–7).

Lupinus sericeus

Phenology Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Meadows, dry banks, bunch­grass prairies, sagebrush scrub, openings in conifer forests.
Elevation 200–3100 m. (700–10200 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.
Parent taxa 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. 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 Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 468. (1813)
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