Lupinus apertus

Summit lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Summit lupine is a California native perennial found in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains in dry, rocky soil of yellow pine to subalpine forests at elevations of 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces purple flowers occasionally pink or white, with a distinctive white spot on the banner and clustered in 8 to 11 centimeter inflorescences. Growing with erect green stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall that are puberulent to sparsely hairy, the plant develops an upright structure. Its leaves have 7 to 9 leaflets, each 25 to 55 millimeters long, with small stipules 5 to 10 millimeters in length. The fruit is a hairy pod 2 to 3 centimeters long, containing 3 to 4 seeds.

Habitat: Dry, rocky soil, yellow pine to subalpine forests

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 1500-3000 m

Bioregions: n SNH.

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