Silver Bush Lupine

Silver lupine is a large, woody lupine species with silvery leaves and gorgeous purple flowers. The shrub is quite large for a lupine, spanning about 2 ft wide and up to 5 ft tall with a narrow, sparse base. The silver leaves are composed of about six leaflets with a severe fold down the middle. The trademark lupine flowers are light blue to violet. The numerous pea-shaped flowers bloom from 3-12 inch stalks in symmetrical layers.

Basic Information

• Member of the Fabaceae (Pea) family

• Perennial shrub

• There are five recognized varieties of this plant, three of which occur only in California:

  • Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons

  • Lupinus albifrons var. collinus

  • Lupinus albifrons var. douglasii (known as Douglas' silver lupine)

  • Lupinus albifrons var. eminens

  • Lupinus albifrons var. flumineus

Habitat

• Native to California and Oregon, along the coast east to the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas

• Commonly found in coastal sage scrub, chaparral, woodland foothill, and yellow pine forest ecosystems

Ecological Role

• Supports native bees and bumblebees

• Larval host to the federally endangered mission blue butterfly, which requires either Lupinus albifrons, Lupinus formosus or Lupinus variicolor to feed its larvae

  • The butterfly becomes toxic itself when it feeds on the plant — pretty cool!

Reproduction

• Blooms from February to June

Alternative Names

• Silver lupine, white-leaf bush lupine, or evergreen lupine

Historical Uses

• The Karok used a decoction of this plant in a steam bath for stomach issues

• The Kashaya Pomo used the flowers in wreaths for the Flower Dance during the end of summer Strawberry Festival

Additional Information

• The toxins in this lupines can negatively affect livestock, causing birth defects and decreasing weight in cattle

  • Sadly, this lupine is often removed from cattle rangeland due to its toxicity, which further endangers the rare butterfly which relies on it