Lupinus shockleyi

Desert lupine, Desert Lupine

Family: Fabaceae · Type: annual · Native

Desert lupine is a California native annual found in the Mojave Desert bioregion in open, sandy areas and creosote bush scrub at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces dark blue-purple flowers with a distinctive yellow banner spot, clustered in small spiraled inflorescences. Growing 0.5 to 3 decimeters tall with a canescent (grayish-white hairy) appearance, it has stems with leaves crowded near the base. Its compound leaves feature 8 to 10 leaflets, each 10 to 30 millimeters long and glabrous on the upper surface. The fruit is an ovate pod 1.5 to 2 centimeters long, densely covered with stiff, long cilia along its wavy upper suture.

Habitat: Open, sandy areas, creosote bush scrub

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: D

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles

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