Lupinus truncatus
Encyclopedia
Lupinus truncatus is a species of lupin
e known by the common name collared annual lupine. It is native to the coastal mountain ranges and canyons of Baja California
and California
as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area
. It grows in slope habitat such as chaparral
and woodland, including areas that have recently burned
. This is an annual herb growing no more than half a meter tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 8 narrow linear leaflets measuring 2 to 4 centimeters in length and just a few millimeters wide. The leaflets usually have truncate tips, or tips that appear sharply cut off and squared, the characteristic that gives the plant its species name. The inflorescence
is a raceme
of widely-spaced flowers each roughly a centimeter long. The flower is magenta or reddish purple in color with a yellowish or magenta patch on its banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod about 3 centimeters long and half a centimeter wide.
Lupin
Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins or lupines , is a genus in the legume family . The genus comprises about 280 species , with major centers of diversity in South and western North America , and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins...
e known by the common name collared annual lupine. It is native to the coastal mountain ranges and canyons of Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. It grows in slope habitat such as chaparral
Chaparral
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California peninsula, Mexico...
and woodland, including areas that have recently burned
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
. This is an annual herb growing no more than half a meter tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 8 narrow linear leaflets measuring 2 to 4 centimeters in length and just a few millimeters wide. The leaflets usually have truncate tips, or tips that appear sharply cut off and squared, the characteristic that gives the plant its species name. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of widely-spaced flowers each roughly a centimeter long. The flower is magenta or reddish purple in color with a yellowish or magenta patch on its banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod about 3 centimeters long and half a centimeter wide.