Lupinus albifrons
Silver bush lupine
Photo by Chez Brungraber
Family: Fabaceae · Type: Shrub · Native
Lupinus albifrons (Silver bush lupine) is a native California shrub in the Fabaceae family.
Silver bush lupine is a California native shrub found in coastal and interior mountain ranges in chaparral, woodland, and coastal scrub habitats at elevations of 100 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces violet to lavender flowers with distinctive yellow spots that turn purple, clustered in loose inflorescences 4 to 40 centimeters long. Growing as a subshrub up to 5 meters tall with decumbent to erect stems, it displays a silvery to green hairy appearance. Its palmately compound leaves have 6 to 10 leaflets, each 10 to 45 millimeters long, clustered near the base of the plant and covered in soft silvery hairs. The fruit is a hairy pod 3 to 5 centimeters long, containing 4 to 9 mottled tan seeds.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 0 sympatric species - geographically isolated
Habitat and range
California counties: Ventura, Solano, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Kern, Calaveras, Siskiyou, Inyo, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles, Lake, Alameda, San Mateo, Butte, Orange, Tulare, Riverside, San Benito, Fresno, Sonoma, Santa Cruz, Modoc, Madera, Napa, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Sutter, Tuolumne, Yuba, El Dorado, Nevada, San Bernardino, Mariposa, Glenn, San Joaquin, Shasta, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, Colusa, Marin, Lassen, Mendocino, San Francisco, Humboldt, Santa Clara, Amador, Trinity, San Diego, Tehama, Sacramento, Yolo, Mono, Kings, Merced
How to tell it apart
vs Salvia: Lupine has pea flowers and palmate leaves; sage has tubular two-lipped flowers and opposite leaves.; vs Artemisia: Lupine has large showy flower spikes; sagebrush has tiny inconspicuous flowers and silvery aromatic foliage.; vs Thermopsis: Lupine typically has 7-11 leaflets; false lupine has exactly 3 leaflets and bright yellow flowers.; vs Delphinium: Lupine has pea flowers; larkspur has flowers with prominent backward-pointing spur.; vs Vicia: Lupine is upright with palmate leaves; vetch is climbing with pinnate leaves and tendrils.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lupinus albifrons native to California?
Yes. Lupinus albifrons is native to California (recorded as native).
Where in California does Lupinus albifrons grow?
Lupinus albifrons occurs in Ventura, Solano, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Kern, Calaveras, Siskiyou, Inyo and other counties.
What plant family does Lupinus albifrons belong to?
Lupinus albifrons is in the Fabaceae family, genus Lupinus.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
- Lupinus albifrons var. abramsii — Abrams' lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons — Silver bush lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. austromontanus — Southern mountain lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. collinus — Low-growing silver lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. douglasii — Long-bracted silver lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. hallii — Hall's bush lupine
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.