Notice

Colin Mills, compiler of the Hortus Camdenensis, died in late November 2012 after a short illness. As he always considered the Hortus his legacy, it is his family's intention to keep the site running in perpetuity. It will not, however, be updated in the near future.

Lupinus sericeus Pursh var. sericeus

Perennial lupin with pubescent stems, palmate leaves with 5-9 leaflets and white to blue flowers.  To 1.2m.  [The Great Basin Naturalist vol.38, p.331/1978].

Horticultural & Botanical History

Lupinus sericeus Pursh.  Silky Lupine.  Perennial, 30-120 cm tall, from a branching caudex; pubescence of stems short-villous to pilose or strigose, sometimes spreading; petioles 1.2-9 cm long; leaflets 5-9, 7-78 mm long, 2-15 mm wide, oblanceolate, commonly flat (at least some), pilose to puberulent on both surfaces or glabrous to glabrate above; peduncles 1.3-9 cm long; racemes 14- to 70-flowered, 6-28 cm long in anthesis, the axis 8-37 cm long in fruit; flowers 10-16 mm long, blue, blue-purple, pale, or white; pedicels 2-7 mm long; calyx more or less gibbous at the base of upper lip; banner with yellow or brown eyespot, strigose along the dorsal crest or more widely; ovules 5-7.  Widely distributed in Utah, and constituting one of the three important species complexes in the state, L. sericeus, along with L. argenteus and L. caudatus, occupy most of the range available to perennial lupines.’  In the variety sericeus the leaflets are only slightly pubescent or have a scattering of hairs.  [The Great Basin Naturalist vol.38, p.331/1978]

History at Camden Park

Seed order to Hurst and McMullen, Seedsmen and Florists of London, on 8th April 1846.  [MP A2933-1, p.132]. 

Notes

Published Oct 03, 2009 - 04:35 PM | Last updated Jul 21, 2010 - 12:32 PM

Family Fabaceae
Category
Region of origin

Western North America

Synonyms
  • Lupinus sericeus Pursh spp. sericeus var. egglestonianus C.P.Sm.
  • Lupinus ramosus E.Nelson
  • Lupinus egglestonianus C.P.Sm.
Common Name

Silky lupine

Name in the Camden Park Record

Lupinus ramosus 

Confidence level high