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

A lupine seedling at the site of a 2004 California wildfire

Lupinus albifrons is a perennial shrub, taking up about 2 ft (0.61 m) of space and reaching 5 ft (1.5 m). It has a light blue to violet flower on 3–12 inches (7.6–30 cm) stalks. The leaves are silver with a feathery texture.

Cultivation

This plant is kept as an ornamental and used for landscaping. 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.^[1] Because of these toxins lupines can negatively affect livestock, causing birth defects and decreasing weight especially in young, unexperienced cattle.^[1] When cows are under stress from lactating, especially in times of low forage availability, they will consume more lupine than usual.^[1]

Mission blue butterfly

The federally-endangered mission blue butterfly requires either Lupinus albifrons, Lupinus formosus and Lupinus variicolor, on which their larvae feed^[2]. 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]}.

Infraspecific taxa

Lupinus albifrons has five different varieties, three of which occur only in California, the other two occur in both California and Oregon:^[3]

• 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.

See also

• California chaparral and woodlands
• California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion

References