Lupinus affinis

Fleshy lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Fleshy lupine is a California native annual found in northern coastal, north coastal, central coastal, and San Francisco Bay Area bioregions in open areas at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces blue flowers with white banner spots, each 8 to 12 millimeters long arranged in distinctive whorled clusters. Growing 20 to 50 centimeters tall with hairy stems, it develops an erect and spreading habit. Its leaves have 5 to 8 leaflets, each 20 to 50 millimeters long and 4 to 11 millimeters wide, carried on petioles 3 to 10 centimeters long. The fruit is a 3 to 5 centimeter pod covered in coarse hairs.

Habitat: Uncommon. Open areas

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoR, CCo, SnFrB.

California counties: Los Angeles, Mendocino, San Mateo, Del Norte, Santa Clara, Butte, Lake, Napa, San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Trinity, Glenn, Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Sonoma, Alameda, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, Colusa, Tehama, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Sutter, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.