Lupinus excubitus

Desert bush lupine, Grape Soda Lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Desert bush lupine is a California native shrub found in desert slopes and washes of the southwestern desert regions at elevations of 1,200 to 2,700 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces violet to lavender flowers 10 to 13 millimeters long with a distinctive bright yellow spot on the banner that turns purple as the flower ages. Growing 1 to 2 meters tall with erect, silver-hairy stems, it forms an upright and densely structured shrub. Its compound leaves have 7 to 9 silver-hairy leaflets, each 5 to 50 millimeters long, arranged on petioles 4 to 10 centimeters in length. The fruit develops as a silky pod 3 to 5 centimeters long, containing 5 to 8 mottled yellow-brown seeds with distinctive lateral lines.

Habitat: Desert slopes, washes

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: (700)1200-2700 m

California counties: Los Angeles, Inyo, Kern, San Diego, San Bernardino, Monterey, Ventura, Riverside, Orange, Sierra, Tulare, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, Mono, Imperial, Mariposa, San Benito

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