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Lupinus pusillus

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Plant species in the pea family

Lupinus pusillus
Lupinus pusillus, Montana
Conservation status

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Faboideae
Genus: Lupinus
Species: L. pusillus
Binomial name
Lupinus pusillus
Pursh
Lupinus pusillus in the Wyoming big sagebrush steppe biome, near Phillips, Montana.

Lupinus pusillus, the rusty lupine or dwarf lupine, is an annual plant in the legume family (fabaceae) found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States(California), and north to Montana.

Description

Growth pattern

It is an annual plant growing up to 9 inches (23 cm) tall. "Pusillus is for the small size of the plant.

Leaves and stems

Leaves are compound palmate with 3-9 1⁄2 to 1+1⁄2 inches (1.3 to 3.8 cm) long inversely lance- shaped leaflets.

Plant stems and leaf stems (petioles) have long spreading hairs.

Inflorescence and fruit

It blooms from April to June.

Flowers are in stalks of 4-38 and bluish to purple or bicolored, with a yellow spot on the upper petal.

Seedpods are nearly oval and have constrictions separating the seeds.

Habitat and range

It can be found in desert shrubland and pinyon juniper woodland communities, from as far north as Washington, to California, and throughout the southwest.

When growing in reddish sand, the blue flowers make a striking contrast with the sun at a low angle.

Ecological and human interactions

It is pollinated by bees.

References

  1. NatureServe (2024). "Lupinus pusillus". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  2. NRCS. "Lupinus pusillus". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  3. ^ Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, 2nd ed., 2012, Morris Bush Publishing, LLC. in cooperation with Canyonlands Natural History Association, ISBN 978-0-7627-7013-7
Taxon identifiers
Lupinus pusillus
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