Lupinus sparsiflorus
Lupinus sparsiflorus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Genus: | Lupinus |
Species: | L. sparsiflorus
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Binomial name | |
Lupinus sparsiflorus |
Lupinus sparsiflorus (Coulter's lupine) is a species of
This is an annual herb growing 20 to 40 centimetres tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 7 to 11 very narrow leaflets up to 3 centimetres long and just a few millimetres wide. The inflorescence is a spiral of several flowers each around a centimetre long. The flower is blue or purple, becoming darker with age, with a white to pink patch on its banner.
The desert lupine flower is pale blue or purple. The upper petal (banner) has a yellow spot which changes to reddish after pollination. The two bottom petals (keel) are short and wide, hairy on the bottom edge and curve upward to a slender tip. When ripe, the seed pods explode, scattering their seed in the wind.
References
- "Lupinus sparsiflorus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
External links
Media related to Lupinus sparsiflorus at Wikimedia Commons