Lupinus lepidus var. confertus

Clustered tidy lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Clustered tidy lupine is a California native perennial found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, White Mountains, Transverse Ranges, and Great Basin in montane meadows and vernally moist areas at elevations of 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces blue, pink, or lavender flowers with a distinctive yellow banner spot that fades to brown or red. Growing 25 to 60 centimeters tall with decumbent to erect hairy stems, it forms dense clusters of flowers arranged in multiple crowded whorls. Its leaves are palmately compound with a single leaflet blade 15 to 30 millimeters long, typically hairy and green. The plant's compact growth and variable flower colors make it a charming component of high-elevation mountain meadows.

Habitat: Common. Meadows, vernally moist areas

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: (300)1500-3000 m

Bioregions: CaRH, SNH, WTR, SnBr, GB, DMtns

California counties: Mono, Tulare, San Bernardino, Inyo, Mariposa, Plumas, Sierra, Kern, El Dorado, Ventura, Alpine, Amador, Placer, Tuolumne, Nevada, Shasta, Lassen, Butte, Modoc, Madera, Fresno, Trinity, Calaveras, Tehama, Siskiyou, Santa Barbara

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