Lupinus chamissonis

Dune bush lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Dune bush lupine is a California native shrub found in southern Northern Coast, Central Coast, and Southern Coast bioregions along coastal strand and dunes at elevations near sea level. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces light violet to blue flowers with a distinctive yellow spot, arranged in compact whorled clusters up to 20 centimeters long. Growing as an erect silvery shrub 50 to 200 centimeters tall with densely appressed hairs, it has a distinctive appearance in coastal environments. Its compound leaves feature 5 to 9 leaflets each 10 to 25 millimeters long, supported by stipules 8 to 10 millimeters in length. The fruit is a hairy pod 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters long, containing 4 to 8 mottled brown seeds.

Habitat: Coastal strand, dunes

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: < +- 10 m

Bioregions: s NCo, CCo, SCo.

California counties: Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Monterey, San Francisco, Marin, Riverside, Kern, Del Norte, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Sonoma, San Benito, San Diego, Trinity, San Bernardino, Tulare, Napa

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