Lupinus nanus

Sky lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Sky lupine is a California native annual found in the California Floristic Province in open grasslands, coastal sage scrub, and foothill woodlands at elevations below 1,300 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces delicate blue, lavender, pink, or white flowers with a distinctive white banner spot and whorled arrangement. Growing 10 to 60 centimeters tall with hairy stems, it displays a delicate branching habit. Its leaves feature 5 to 9 (typically 7) leaflets, 10 to 40 millimeters long, with soft hairs covering the upper surface. The fruit is a hairy pod 2 to 4 centimeters long, containing 4 to 12 seeds.

Habitat: Abundant. Open or disturbed areas, grasslands, coastal sage scrub, foothill woodland

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 1300 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc s SW)

California counties: Humboldt, Contra Costa, Kern, Placer, San Luis Obispo, El Dorado, Monterey, Tuolumne, Santa Barbara, Butte, Tehama, Madera, Nevada, Sierra, Solano, Amador, Napa, Plumas, Calaveras, Ventura, Tulare, Marin, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Shasta, Mendocino, Santa Cruz, San Diego, Yolo, Yuba, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Sacramento, Fresno, Lake, Sonoma, San Francisco, Stanislaus, Glenn, Santa Clara, San Benito, Kings, Alameda, Colusa, Trinity, Sutter, Merced, Del Norte, Siskiyou, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange

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