Lupinus lapidicola

Heller's mount eddy lupine, Heller's Mount Eddy Lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Heller's mount eddy lupine is a rare California native (CNPS 4.3) perennial herb found in the eastern Klamath Ranges at Mount Eddy in Siskiyou County and the northern Coast Ranges in the King Range of southwestern Humboldt County, growing in dry granitic or serpentine soils within lower montane and subalpine conifer forests at elevations of 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering in July, this plant produces violet flowers with a distinctive yellow spot on the banner, approximately 9 to 12 millimeters long. Growing less than 10 centimeters tall with a nearly prostrate habit, it forms a silver-silky perennial herb with stems clustered near the base. Its leaves have 6 to 8 leaflets, each 10 to 20 millimeters long, carried on petioles 2 to 4.5 centimeters in length. The inflorescence rises 2 to 7 centimeters tall, with flowers arranged in a few spaced whorls on peduncles 5 to 10 centimeters long.

Habitat: dry granitic or serpentine, gravelly soils, lower montane conifer to subalpine conifer forests

Bloom period: Jul

Elevation: 1500-3000 m

Bioregions: e KR (Mount Eddy, Siskiyou Co.), NCoRO (King Range, sw Humboldt Co.).

California counties: Siskiyou, Trinity, Humboldt, Del Norte

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