''Lupinus cervinus'' is a species of

lupin ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet, is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centres of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centres occur in No ...

e known by the common name Santa Lucia lupine. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Santa Lucia Mountains The Santa Lucia Range (sæntə luˈsiːə) or Santa Lucia Mountains is a rugged mountain range in coastal Central California, running from Carmel southeast for to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than fro ...

in the Central Coast Ranges in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it is an uncommon member of the flora in the mountain forests. This is a hairy gray-green perennial herb growing up to tall. The erect stem is surrounded by clusters of spreading leaves. Each

palmate The following terms are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (that is, the leaf blade or 'lamina' is undivided) or compound (that is, the leaf blade is divided into two or more leaflets ...

leaf is made up of 4 to 8 leaflets up to long and wide, which is wider than the leaflets of most lupines. The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

bears many flowers, sometimes in

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagram ...

, each between and long. The

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

is often bright pink, but may be shades of blue to nearly white. There is often a yellow patch on the banner. The fruit is a hairy

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

pod up to long.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
*Ventana Wilderness Alliance

Summer 1999. * ttp://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Lupinus+cervinus Photo gallery cervinus Endemic flora of California Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Lupinus-stub