Lupinus obtusilobus
Encyclopedia
Lupinus obtusilobus is a species of lupin
e known by the common name bluntlobe lupine. It is native to high mountains of northern California
, including the North Coast Ranges, the Klamath Mountains
, and the northernmost Sierra Nevada. It grows in various types of mountain habitat, sometimes carpeting meadows with its purple blooms in the spring. It is a perennial herb growing erect or decumbent along the ground, its stem 15 to 30 centimeters long. Each palmate leaf is made up of 6 to 7 leaflets up to 5 centimeters long. The herbage is coated in silvery silky hairs. The inflorescence
is a small raceme
with a few whorls of flowers each just over a centimeter long. The flower is blue to purple with a yellowish patch on its banner. The fruit is a silky-haired legume pod up to 4 centimeters long.
Lupin
Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins or lupines , is a genus in the legume family . The genus comprises about 280 species , with major centers of diversity in South and western North America , and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins...
e known by the common name bluntlobe lupine. It is native to high mountains of northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, including the North Coast Ranges, the Klamath Mountains
Klamath Mountains
The Klamath Mountains, which include the Siskiyou, Marble, Scott, Trinity, Trinity Alps, Salmon, and northern Yolla-Bolly Mountains, are a rugged lightly populated mountain range in northwest California and southwest Oregon in the United States...
, and the northernmost Sierra Nevada. It grows in various types of mountain habitat, sometimes carpeting meadows with its purple blooms in the spring. It is a perennial herb growing erect or decumbent along the ground, its stem 15 to 30 centimeters long. Each palmate leaf is made up of 6 to 7 leaflets up to 5 centimeters long. The herbage is coated in silvery silky hairs. The inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a small raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
with a few whorls of flowers each just over a centimeter long. The flower is blue to purple with a yellowish patch on its banner. The fruit is a silky-haired legume pod up to 4 centimeters long.