Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons

Silver bush lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Silver bush lupine is a California native shrub found in northwestern California, the Sierra Nevada, central western California, southern California coastal areas, Channel Islands, western Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in chaparral and foothill woodland at elevations below 1,500 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces silvery-white to purple flowers in dense clusters 8 to 30 centimeters long. Growing as an upright shrub 50 to 500 centimeters tall with a distinct trunk, it features a striking silver-silky appearance. Its leaves have 6 to 10 leaflets, each 10 to 30 millimeters long, with prominent stipules 7 to 10 millimeters in length. The plant's distinctive silver-gray foliage and elegant flower clusters make it a notable feature of California's Mediterranean landscapes.

Habitat: Common. Chaparral, foothill woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 1500 m

Bioregions: NW, SN, CW, SCo, ChI, WTR, SnGb, PR

California counties: Amador, Placer, Kern, Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, Tulare, San Mateo, Madera, Colusa, Monterey, Contra Costa, Fresno, Shasta, Calaveras, Lake, San Benito, Trinity, Marin, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Alameda, Lassen, Santa Clara, Plumas, Stanislaus, Napa, Mendocino, San Joaquin, San Diego, Humboldt, San Francisco, Ventura, Butte, Orange, Sutter, Modoc, El Dorado, Nevada, Del Norte, Glenn, Mariposa, Solano, Tehama, San Bernardino, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Yuba, Sacramento, Kings, Yolo, Inyo, Imperial

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