Harlequin Lupine, Lupinus stiversii

About Harlequin Lupine (Lupinus stiversii) 3 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Lupinus stiversii is a species of lupine known by the common name harlequin lupine. It is endemic to California, where it has a disjunct distribution in several separate mountain ranges. It is a plant of the Sierra Nevada and its foothills, and populations also occur in the Transverse Ranges above Los Angeles and the Santa Lucia Mountains of Monterey County. It grows in open, dry habitat, such as forest clearings and exposed slopes. It is a hairy annual herb growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall with an erect, branching stem. Each palmate leaf is made up of usually 7 leaflets measuring 2 to 5 centimeters in length. The flower cluster is a dense array of a few flowers, often just one or two layers. The unique flower is between 1 and 2 centimeters long and is pink with a yellow banner. The fruit is a legume pod around 2 centimeters long containing usually 5 seeds. The plant was named for Army physician Dr. Charles Austin Stivers, who first collected it in 1862 near Yosemite.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Annual Herb

Size

0.33 - 1.6 ft tall

Flower Color

Yellow, Pink

Flowering Season

Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 39 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Painted Lady Vanessa carduiVanessa cardui

Gray Hairstreak Strymon melinusStrymon melinus

Acmon Blue Icaricia acmonIcaricia acmon

Orange Sulphur Colias eurythemeColias eurytheme

Silvery Blue Glaucopsyche lygdamusGlaucopsyche lygdamus

Shasta Blue Icaricia shastaIcaricia shasta

Arrowhead Blue Glaucopsyche piasusGlaucopsyche piasus

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun

Moisture

Low

Nurseries

Carried by 3

Common uses

Bird Gardens, Bee Gardens

Propagation?

For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need no treatment. Stored seeds scarification or hot water; No treatment may give fair germination.

Sunset Zones?

7*, 14, 15, 16, 18*

Natural Setting

Site Type

Open places

Climate

Annual Precipitation: 12.0" - 77.7", Summer Precipitation: 0.37" - 1.82", Coldest Month: 28.3" - 49.4", Hottest Month: 59.0" - 75.9", Humidity: 1.16" - 27.20", Elevation: 87" - 6643"

Alternative Names

Common Names: Harlequin Annual Lupine

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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

Harlequin Lupine

Lupinus stiversii

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Harlequin LupineLupinus stiversii

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Harlequin Lupine

Lupinus stiversii