Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Lupinus grayi is a species of lupine known by the common name Sierra lupine. It is endemic to California, where its distribution extends the length of the Sierra Nevada and its foothills and includes the Tehachapi Mountains. It is a common plant of the mountain forests, where it sometimes carpets meadows with its woolly green herbage and purple flower spikes. This is a low, prostrate perennial herb forming spreading mats 20 or 30 centimeters high. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 11 leaflets up to 3.5 centimeters long. The flower cluster bears dense whorls of flowers each just over a centimeter long. Each flower is purple or blue with a yellow or reddish patch on the banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod up to 3.5 centimeters in length.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

8 - 13 in Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Blue, Lavender, Purple

Flowering season

Spring, Summer

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Water

Moderate

Propagation

For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need no treatment. Stored seeds scarification or hot water.

Site type

Open slopes

Plant communities

Red Fir Forest, Yellow Pine Forest

Hummingbirds
Bees
Butterflies

Pollinators supported

1 confirmed and 113 likely

  • Likely

  • Confirmed

Yellow-faced Bumble Bee

Bombus vosnesenskii

Arrowhead Arctic Blue

Agriades podarce

Mock-orange Miner Bee

Andrena candida

Western Red-legged Miner Bee

Andrena medionitens