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Spider Lupine
Lupinus benthamii
  
About Spider Lupine (Lupinus benthamii) 4 Nurseries Carry This Plant Lupinus benthamii is a species of lupine known by the common name spider lupine. It is endemic to central California, where it is known from the Central Coast Ranges across the Central Valley into the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is common in some areas, covering hillsides with its blue blooms in the spring. This is a hairy annual herb growing 20 to 70 centimeters tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 7 to 10 leaflets each up to 5 centimeters long. They are narrow and linear in shape, just a few millimeters wide. The flower cluster is an erect raceme of flowers up to 30 centimeters 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 pod about 3 centimeters long.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Annual Herb

Size
Size
0.7 - 2.3 ft tall

Flower Color
Flower Color
Purple, Blue, Pink, White

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 51 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Very Low

Nurseries
Nurseries

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast

Soil Description
Soil Description
Gravelly. Soil PH: 6 - 9

Common uses
Common uses
Bird Gardens, Bee Gardens

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need no treatment. Stored seeds scarification or hot water.

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
3, 7*, 8*, 9*, 10, 11, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Rocky slopes, open places

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 3.5" - 49.2", Summer Precipitation: 0.15" - 1.31", Coldest Month: 36.8" - 61.4", Hottest Month: 60.5" - 88.8", Humidity: 0.73" - 42.79", Elevation: 3" - 5062"

Alternative Names
Botanical Names: Lupinus benthamii var. benthamii
Common Names: Bentham Lupine


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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