Lupinus sericeus

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Lupinus sericeus
Lupinus sericeus.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Lupinus
Species:
L. sericeus
Binomial name
Lupinus sericeus

Lupinus sericeus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name silky lupine or Pursh's silky lupine. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Arizona and east to Alberta and Colorado. [1]

This perennial herb produces erect stems from a woody caudex and deep root system. The stems reach up to 50 centimetres (20 inches) tall and may branch or not. They are coated in silvery or reddish hairs. The leaves have up to 9 lance-shaped leaflets each up to 6 centimetres (2.4 inches) in length. They are coated in silk-like hairs. The inflorescence is a raceme of many flowers, usually in shades of purple or blue, but sometimes white or yellowish. The back side of the banner petal is hairy. The fruit is a hairy legume pod up to 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long containing up to 7 seeds. [1] [2]

This plant grows in many types of habitat, including forests, woodlands, chaparral, shrubsteppe, sagebrush, and grasslands. It often grows on dry, rocky slopes, and does best in open sites without shade. It can be found at low and high elevations, up to 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) or more. It can often be found in recently burned sites. Plants associated with it include Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), common snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus), ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.), arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia), bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), fescues (Festuca idahoensis and F. scabrella), prairie junegrass (Koeleria cristata), and sedges (Carex spp.). [1]

Like many other lupines, this species is very toxic to sheep, and less so to cattle and horses. It contains teratogenic chemical compounds that may cause birth defects in a calf if the plant is eaten by its mother during the early part of the gestation period. [1] Its toxicity is caused by a concentration of quinolizidine alkaloids. It does not appear to be toxic to wild animals such as white-tailed deer, which often consume it. Bighorn sheep feed on it in Montana and Columbia ground squirrels feed on the leaves and flowers. Many other small mammals and birds also eat parts of it. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Lupinus arboreus</i> Species of plant

Lupinus arboreus, the yellow bush lupine (US) or tree lupin (UK), is a species of flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae.

<i>Lupinus excubitus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus excubitus is a species of lupine known as the grape soda lupine. Its common name refers to its sweet scent, which is said to be very reminiscent of grape soda. This species and its variants are found in Southwestern United States, especially in California and Nevada, e.g., Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks, and northwestern Mexico.

Lupinus adsurgens is a species of lupine known by the common name Drew's silky lupine. It is native to the Sierra Nevada and coastal mountain ranges of northern California and southern Oregon, where it grows in forest and other mountain habitat.

<i>Lupinus albicaulis</i> Species of legume

Lupinus albicaulis is a species of lupine known by the common name sicklekeel lupine. It is native to the western United States from Washington to California, where it grows mostly in mountain habitat. It is a hairy, erect perennial herb often exceeding a meter in height. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 10 leaflets each up to 7 centimetres long. The inflorescence is up to 44 centimetres (17 in) long, bearing whorls of flowers each 1 to 1.6 centimetres long. The flower is purple to yellowish or whitish in color and has a sickle-shaped keel. The fruit is a silky-hairy legume pod up to 5 centimetres (2 in) long containing several seeds. In Oregon, where the plant is native, it has been cultivated for several uses, including reforestation and revegetation of roadsides and other disturbed habitat.

Lupinus antoninus is a rare species of lupine known by the common name Anthony Peak lupine. It is endemic to northern California, where it is known from only four occurrences in the North Coast Ranges, including near Anthony Peak.

<i>Lupinus breweri</i> Species of legume

Lupinus breweri is a species of lupine known by the common names Brewer's lupine and matted lupine. It is native to much of California, except for the deserts, and to adjacent sections of Oregon and Nevada, where it is common in some areas, particularly mountain forests.

<i>Lupinus cervinus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus cervinus is a species of lupine known by the common name Santa Lucia lupine. It is endemic to the Santa Lucia Mountains in the Central Coast Ranges in California, where it is an uncommon member of the flora in the mountain forests. This is a hairy gray-green perennial herb growing up to 30–70 centimetres (12–28 in) tall. The erect stem is surrounded by clusters of spreading leaves. Each palmate leaf is made up of 4 to 8 leaflets up to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) long and 3 centimetres (1.2 in) wide, which is wider than the leaflets of most lupines. The inflorescence bears many flowers, sometimes in whorls, each between 1 centimetre (0.39 in) and 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long. The flower is often bright pink, but may be shades of blue to nearly white. There is often a yellow patch on the banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod up to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) long.

<i>Lupinus chamissonis</i> Species of legume

Lupinus chamissonis is a species of lupine known by the common name Chamisso bush lupine. It is endemic to California, where it is known from most of the length of the coastline. It grows in sand dunes and other immediate coastal habitat.

<i>Lupinus croceus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus croceus is a species of lupine known by the common names saffron-flowered lupine and Mt Eddy Lupine. It is endemic to the northernmost mountains of California, clustering in the Klamath Mountains, where it grows in generally dry, rocky habitat.

<i>Lupinus duranii</i> Species of legume

Lupinus duranii is a species of lupine known by the common name Mono Lake lupine. It is endemic to California, where it is known mainly from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada in western Mono County. Its distribution includes Mammoth Mountain and the hills around Mono Lake, and its habitat has gravelly, pumice-rich soils of volcanic origin.

<i>Lupinus hirsutissimus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus hirsutissimus is a species of lupine known by the common names stinging annual lupine or stinging lupine. It is native to the coastal mountains of Baja California and Southern California as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area. It grows on dry mountain slopes, including areas that have recently burned, and chaparral and woodlands habitats.

<i>Lupinus obtusilobus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus obtusilobus is a species of lupine known by the common name bluntlobe lupine. It is native to high mountains of northern California, including the North Coast Ranges, the Klamath Mountains, and the northernmost Sierra Nevada. It grows in various types of mountain habitat, sometimes carpeting meadows with its purple blooms in the spring. It is a perennial herb growing erect or decumbent along the ground, its stem 15–30 centimetres (5.9–11.8 in) long. Each palmate leaf is made up of 6 to 7 leaflets up to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long. The herbage is coated in silvery silky hairs. The inflorescence is a small raceme with a few whorls of flowers each just over a centimeter long. The flower is blue to purple with a yellowish patch on its banner. The fruit is a silky-haired legume pod up to 4 centimetres (1.6 in) long.

<i>Lupinus pratensis</i> Species of legume

Lupinus pratensis is a species of lupine known by the common name Inyo meadow lupine. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the central Sierra Nevada and adjacent plateau and valleys to the east. It grows in relatively moist habitat, such as streambanks and spring meadows. This is an erect perennial herb growing 30–70 centimetres (12–28 in) tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 10 narrow leaflets sometimes exceeding 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long. The leaves are borne on long petioles which can reach 25 centimetres (9.8 in) in length. The herbage is green and coated in thin hairs. The inflorescence is a dense raceme of many flowers each around a centimeter long. The flower is dark blue or purple with a reddish or orange patch on its banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod around 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long.

<i>Lupinus rivularis</i> Species of plant

Lupinus rivularis is a species of lupine known by the common name riverbank lupine native to North America. It is also commonly known as river lupine, streambank lupine, and stream lupine.

<i>Oxytropis sericea</i> Species of flowering plant

Oxytropis sericea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names white locoweed, white point-vetch, whitepoint crazyweed, and silky crazyweed. It is native to western North America from Yukon and British Columbia south through the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains.

<i>Lupinus arcticus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus arcticus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names Arctic lupine or subalpine lupine. It is native to northwestern North America, where it occurs from Oregon north to Alaska and east to Nunavut. It is a common wildflower in British Columbia.

<i>Lupinus kuschei</i> Species of legume

Lupinus kuschei, the Yukon lupine, is a species of flowering plant from the order Fabales which can be found in Alaska and Western Canada.

<i>Lupinus lepidus</i> Species of legume

Lupinus lepidus, the Pacific lupine, prairie lupine or dwarf lupine is a perennial herbaceous plant in the pea family (Fabaceae) endemic to western North America. Many varieties have been described, several of which are considered separate species by some authorities.

Lupinus garfieldensis, commonly known as the Garfield lupine or the Asotin Silky lupine, is a species of lupine native to eastern Washington state.

<i>Lupinus caudatus</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae

Lupinus caudatus is a widespread species of wildflower in genus Lupinus from western North America known by the common names tailcup lupin and spurred lupin. It is distinctive for the short spur on its purple-blue flowers, for which it is named. Because of its wide distribution and toxicity it commonly causes poisonings of susceptible livestock such as horses, cattle, and sheep, though it is eaten without harm by wild herbivores like deer and elk. It is generally found from the Coastal Ranges and Sierra Nevada Mountains in the west to the Rocky Mountains in the east.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Matthews, Robin F. (1993) Lupinus sericeus. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Retrieved 11-29-2011.
  2. Lupinus sericeus. Washington Burke Museum. Retrieved 11-29-2011.