Lupinus argenteus (Silvery Lupine) - photos and description
Origin: Native.
General: Erect plants with a bushy, much-branched growth habit. Stems pubescent with appressed hairs. Foliage is light green to greyish-green in colour.
Flowers: In a long, cylindrical raceme, very showy, purple-blue in colour. We measured racemes to 25 cm long and individual flowers to 1 cm long.
Fruit: Is a peapod growing perpendicular to the stem. We measured a pod at 28 mm long and 8 mm wide. Fruit very hairy.
Leaves: Stems leafy, stem leaves alternate. Leaves are digitate, we measured a leaf at 6.5 cm diameter. We counted up to 10 leaflets, the leaflets are lanceolate, a leaflet was measured at 3.5 cm long and 5 mm wide. Leaflets fold inward and have appressed, silky hairs.
Height / Width: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 60 cm, we measured plants to 90 cm tall. Very bushy plants, we measured one plant to 117 cm width.
Habitat: Grassy uplands in southwest Saskatchewan, particularly the Cypress Hills.
Abundance: Very rare, ranked as an S2 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
When and where photographed: The above photos were taken on July 4th on hilly prairie in the the Rockglen district 250 km southwest of Regina, SK, and July 12th, on prairie hills of the centre and west blocks of the Cypress Hills Provincial Park, 450 km SW of our home in Regina, SK.