''Lupinus benthamii'' is a species of lupine known by the common name spider lupine.

Distribution

The plant is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to central

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where it is known from the Central Coast Ranges across the Central Valley into the

Sierra Nevada foothills :''See Sierra Nevada for general information about the mountain range in the United States.'' The ecology of the Sierra Nevada, located in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, is diverse and complex: the plants and animals are a significant ...

. It is common in some areas, covering hillsides with its blue blooms in the spring.

Description

''Lupinus benthamii'' is a hairy annual herb growing tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 7 to 10 leaflets each up to long. They are narrow and linear in shape, just a few millimeters wide. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is an erect

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

of flowers up to tall, the flowers sometimes arranged in whorls. The flower is between 1 and 2 centimeters long and bright to deep blue in color, generally with a white or pink spot on the banner, or upper petal. The fruit is a hairy

legume A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock f ...

pod about long.

References

External links

*
Jepson Manual Treatment for ''Lupinus benthamii''''Lupinus benthamii'' — UC Photo gallery
benthamii Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Central Valley (California) Taxa named by Amos Arthur Heller Plants described in 1830 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Lupinus-stub