Lupinus albifrons
{{Short description|Species of legume}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Lupinus albifrons.jpg
| genus = Lupinus
| species = albifrons
| authority = Benth.
| status = G5
| status_system = TNC
| status_ref = {{Cite web|date=2022-06-03 |access-date=23 Jun 2022 |url= https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.128411/Lupinus_albifrons |publication-place=Arlington Virginia, United States of America |website=NatureServe Explorer Lupinus albifrons |title = NatureServe Explorer Lupinus albifrons |id=NatureServe Element Code:PDFAB2B060 |publisher=NatureServe}}{{Cite report |last1=Faber-Langendoen |first1=D |url=https://www.natureserve.org/sites/default/files/natureserveconservationstatusmethodology_jun12.pdf |title=NatureServe Conservation Status Assessments: Methodology for Assigning Ranks |last2=Nichols |first2=J |last3=Master |first3=L |last4=Snow |first4=K |last5=Tomaino |first5=A |last6=Bittman |first6=R |last7=Hammerson |first7=G |last8=Heidel |first8=B |last9=Ramsay |first9=L |last10=Teucher |first10=A |last11=Young |first11=B |publisher=NatureServe |year=2012 |location=Arlington, Virginia, United States of America }}
}}
Lupinus albifrons, silver lupine, white-leaf bush lupine, or evergreen lupine, is a species of lupine (lupin). It is native to California and Oregon, where it grows along the coast and in dry and open meadows, prairies and forest clearings. It is a member of several plant communities, including coastal sage scrub, chaparral, northern coastal scrub, foothill woodland, and yellow pine forest.
Description
Lupinus albifrons is a perennial shrub, taking up about {{convert|2|ft|m|abbr=on}} of space and reaching {{convert|5|ft|m|abbr=on}}. It has a light blue to violet flower on {{Convert|3|–|12|in|cm}} stalks. The leaves are silver with a feathery texture.{{Cite web|title=Silver Lupine, Lupinus albifrons|url=https://calscape.org/Lupinus-albifrons-()|access-date=2021-12-30|website=calscape.org}} It grows in sandy to rocky places below {{Convert|5000|feet|meters}}.{{Cite web|title=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin|url=https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=lual4|access-date=2021-12-30|website=www.wildflower.org}}
Cultivation
This plant grows as a wildflower in the hills and valleys of California. It requires good drainage and needs little water once the roots are established.
Toxicity to livestock
The plant is deer-resistant due to the presence of the bitter-tasting alkaloid toxins anagyrine and lupinine.[http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?seq_no_115=202631 Effects of Experience and Lactation on Lupine Consumption by Cattle] Because of these toxins lupines can negatively affect livestock, causing birth defects and decreasing weight especially in young, inexperienced cattle. When cows are under stress from lactating, especially in times of low forage availability, they will consume more lupine than usual.
Mission blue butterfly
The federally endangered mission blue butterfly requires either Lupinus albifrons, Lupinus formosus and Lupinus variicolor, on which their larvae feed.[http://essig.berkeley.edu/endins/mission.htm Essig Museum of Entomology] The butterfly becomes toxic itself when it feeds on the plant, leaving it with a bitter taste to deter predators.
Due to its potential danger to livestock, this lupine is removed from rangeland when possible, eliminating a crucial food plant from the butterfly's range{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}.
Infraspecific taxa
Lupinus albifrons has six different varieties, four of which occur only in California, the other two occur in both California and Oregon:[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LUAL4 Plant Profile, Silver Lupine], Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
- Lupinus albifrons var. albifrons, silver lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. collinus, silver lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. douglasii, Douglas' silver lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. eminens, silver lupine
- Lupinus albifrons var. flumineus, silver lupine.
- Lupinus albifrons var. hallii, syn. Lupinus paynei, Payne's bush lupine. {{cite web | url=https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=13568 | title=Lupinus paynei Calflora }}
Photos
{{multiple image
| image1 = Lupine seedling solstice fire site.JPG
| caption1 = A lupine seedling at the site of a 2004 California wildfire
| image2 = Silver Lupine Blooming.jpg
| caption2 = Blooming silver lupine
| align = none
}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3691,4023,4027 Jepson Manual Treatment - Lupinus albifrons]
- [http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=5097 CalFlora - Lupinus albifrons]
- [http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=lual4 Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080704065435/http://www.ggnrabigyear.org/missionbluebutterfly.html Golden Gate National Recreation Area]
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Lupinus+albifrons Lupinus albifrons - Photo gallery]
{{Commons category|Lupinus albifrons|position=left}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q4118548}}
Category:Flora of the Klamath Mountains
Category:Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Category:Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Category:Garden plants of North America