Silvery Lupine, Lupinus argenteus

About Silvery Lupine (Lupinus argenteus) 2 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Lupinus argenteus is a species of lupine known by the common name silvery lupine. It is native to much of western North America from the southwestern Canadian provinces to the southwestern and midwestern United States, where it grows in several types of habitat, including sagebrush, grassland, and forests. This is a perennial herb growing erect to heights anywhere between 10 centimeters and 1.5 meters. It is sometimes silvery-hairy in texture and sometimes nearly hairless. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 9 leaflets each up to 6 centimeters long. They are narrow and linear in shape, under a centimeter wide. The flower cluster bears many flowers, sometimes arranged in whorls. The flower is 5 to 14 millimeters long and purple, blue, or whitish in color. The banner, or upper petal, of the flower may have a patch of white or yellow. The fruit is a hairy legume pod up to 3 centimeters long containing several beanlike seeds.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Perennial Herb

Size

0.33 - 5 ft tall

Form

Upright

Growth Rate

Fast

Flower Color

Blue, Purple

Flowering Season

Summer, Fall

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 4 confirmed

, 38 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinusStrymon melinus

Silvery Blue Glaucopsyche lygdamusGlaucopsyche lygdamus

Melissa Blue Plebejus melissaPlebejus melissa

Duskywing Erynnis afraniusErynnis afranius

Painted Lady Vanessa carduiVanessa cardui

Acmon Blue Icaricia acmonIcaricia acmon

Orange Sulphur Colias eurythemeColias eurytheme

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part Shade

Nurseries

Carried by 2

Soil Description

Adaptable, tolerant of sand, loam and clay

Common uses

Bird Gardens, Bee Gardens

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need no treatment. Stored seeds scarification or hot water.

Natural Setting

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 3.5" - 93.5", Summer Precipitation: 0.42" - 4.44", Coldest Month: 21.6" - 59.4", Hottest Month: 40.1" - 88.1", Humidity: 0.23" - 39.05", Elevation: 211" - 11951"

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Silvery Lupine

Lupinus argenteus

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Silvery LupineLupinus argenteus

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Silvery Lupine

Lupinus argenteus