There are so many western kinds of Lupinus that it is hopeless for
the amateur to distinguish them; herbs, sometimes shrubs; leaves
palmately-compound, stipules adhering to the base of the leaf-stalk,
leaflets, more than three in number, usually closing at mid-day;
flowers showy, in terminal racemes; calyx deeply toothed, two-lipped;
standard broad, the edges rolling back, wings lightly adhering above,
enclosing the incurved, pointed keel, sometimes beaked; style incurved,
stigma bearded; stamens united by their filaments, alternate anthers
shorter; pod two-valved, leathery, flat, oblong; seeds two to twelve.
Lupines always have palmately-divided leaves, and are never trailing,
twining, or tendril-bearing and thus may be superficially distinguished
from Vetches and Peas, and from Thermopsis, by the united stamens.
[Sidenote: =River Lupine=
_Lupìnus rivulàris_
=Blue and white and purple
Summer
Northwest=]
A stately perennial, about three feet high, with stout, branching
reddish, slightly downy stems, bearing several tall spires of flowers.
The handsome leaves are bright green, smooth on the upper side,
slightly downy, but not silvery, on the under, with from seven to
thirteen leaflets, and the flower-cluster is very erect and compact,
eight or ten inches long, beautifully shaded in color, from the pale,
silky buds at the tip, to the blue and purple of the open flowers,
which are about five-eighths of an inch long, with a lilac standard,
tipped with purple. The upper flowers have white wings, veined with
blue, and a green calyx, with reddish teeth, and the lower flowers have
bright blue wings, veined with purple, and a reddish-purple calyx. This
grows in wet places.
[Sidenote: =Tree Lupine=
_Lupìnus arbòreus_
=Yellow
Spring
California=]
A conspicuous shrub, four to eight feet high, with a thick trunk,
gnarled and twisted below, with purplish, downy branches, silvery twigs
and dull bluish-green leaves, downy on the under side, with about nine
leaflets. The fine flower clusters are sometimes a foot long, composed
of beautiful canary-yellow flowers, deliciously sweet-scented. This is
easily recognized by its size and fragrance and is common in sandy soil
near the sea, where it has been found very useful, as its very long
roots keep the sand dunes from shifting.
[Illustration: River Lupine--Lupinus rivularis.]
[Sidenote: =Parti-colored Lupine=
_Lupìnus Stìversii_
=Pink and yellow
Summer
California=]
One of the prettiest and most conspicuous kinds, for its coloring
is unusual, with branching, downy, leafy stems, about a foot high,
thickish leaflets, pale bluish-green in color and rather hairy, and
fragrant flowers, over half an inch long, with rose-colored wings and a
yellow standard, changing to orange in fading. The combination of pink,
orange, and yellow is very striking. This grows in warm, dry spots
in Yosemite, and other places in the Sierras and Coast Ranges. _L.
citrìnus_, of similar situations, has all yellow flowers.
[Sidenote: =Quaker Bonnets=
_Lupìnus laxiflòrus_
=Blue
Spring, summer
West=]
A handsome perennial, forming fine clumps on dry, gravelly hillsides,
with several, slender, rather downy stems, from one to two feet tall,
the leaflets six to nine in number, rather bluish-green, downy on the
upper side, paler and silkier on the under. The younger leaves and
calyxes are silvery with down, the flower buds form long, pretty,
silvery clusters, resembling ears of wheat in form, and the flowers are
in handsome loose racemes, from five to six inches long, of various
shades of blue, mostly bright and somewhat purplish, the standard
with a little white at its base and the keel purplish. The pod is
covered with silky hairs and contains from three to five seeds. This
is very common in Utah, handsome and conspicuous, and when growing in
quantities, among Balsam-roots, Forget-me-nots, and Wild Geraniums,
makes a combination unequaled in any flower-garden.
[Sidenote: =Milk-white Lupine=
_Lupìnus lactèus_
=White
Spring
California=]
A handsome plant, with a very stout, branching stem and soft,
bluish-green leaves, with silky hairs on the edges and under sides,
forming a fine clump of foliage, from which the flower-stalks stand up
very stiff and straight. The cluster is most symmetrical in form and
the flowers, which are nearly three-quarters of an inch long, are a
beautiful, pearly white, tinged with yellow at the base of the standard
and with creamy buds. The lower lobe of the calyx is large and very
dark green, the stems have a pale, satiny surface, sprinkled with hairs
and the leaflets are ten or eleven in number. This grows in the grass
along the roadsides and is common around San Bernardino.
[Illustration: Bi-colored Lupine--Lupinus Stiversii.]
[Illustration: Milk-white Lupine--Lupinus lacteus.