Native plant identification key for the
Palos Verdes Peninsula, California


Leaves odd- foliate, 5-11 leaflets making up the leaf, which is ~2.5-6 cm long overall. Leaves cauline (on stems),alternate, on petioles ~4-7 cm long. Petioles have stipules (small, leaf-like appendages fused along base of petiole) ~0.5-1.4 cm long. Leaflets are oblanceolate (much longer than wide, widening slightly toward the tip) to elliptical (symmetrically oval, wider in the midde). Margins are entire (smooth). Leaves and stems covered with silky hairs, creating a silvery-green appearance. Erect -branching, sometimes sprawling shrub ~1-1.5 m tall. Inflorescence is a terminal raceme or pinnately arranged cluster of individual flowers on their own pedicels (stems) spiraling along the rachis or central axis of the cluster. The raceme features bracts (leaf-like structures), which fall off early in flowering. The raceme is ~20-40 cm long at the end of branches, the peduncles bearing them ~6-12 cm long, while the pedicels supporting individual flowers are ~0.5-1 cm long. The flower corollas are blue or violet, 2 lipped, divided into 5 lobes, the lower 2 sometimes fused. The upper lip or banner is almost circular in shape, has a central yellow spot, and a glabrous (smooth-surfaced) back. The corolla is ~1.4-1.8 cm long overall. There are 10 stamens. Blooms April through June in much of its range but flowering may continue all year in coastal locations. Fruit is a dark, hairy pod ~4-6 cm long, containing 6-8 seeds, easily visible by the bumps they produce in the pod. The seeds are ~5-6 mm across and brownish to grey in color. The plant is found in California sage scrub and chaparral and favors canyons at elevations under 500 m from Santa Barbara County into Baja California.

Lupinus longifolius aka L. albifrons var. longifolius aka L. chamissonis var. longifolius aka L. mollisifolius (Fabaceae): longleaf bush lupine or long leaf bush lupine


First placed on web: 08/10/11
Last revised: 08/10/11
Christine M. Rodrigue, Ph.D., Department of Geography, California State University, Long Beach, CA 90840-1101
rodrigue@csulb.edu

The development of this key was partially funded through the Geoscience Diversity Enhancement Program (Award #0703798) and through a course of re-assigned time provided by the CSULB Scholarly and Creative Activities Committee. Thanks also to the students in sections of biogeography, introductory physical geography, GDEP, and LSAMP for "test-driving" various editions of this key.