Interesting Plant: Lupine “Sunrise” (Lupinus hartwegii)

Interesting Plant: Lupine “Sunrise” (Lupinus hartwegii)

“Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine (North America), is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family (Fabaceae). The genus comprises about 280 species (Hughes), with major centers of diversity in South and Western North America (Subgen. Platycarpos (Wats.) Kurl.), parts of the Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand and parts of Australia) and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa (Subgen. Lupinus).[1][2]

The species are mostly herbaceous perennial plants 0.3–1.5 m (0.98–4.9 ft) tall, but some are annual plants and a few are shrubs up to 3 m (9.8 ft) tall with one species (Lupinus jaimehintoniana from the Mexican state of Oaxaca) up to 8 m (26 ft) high with a trunk 20 cm (7.9 in) in diameter. They have a characteristic and easily recognized leaf shape, with soft green to grey-green leaves which in many species bear silvery hairs, often densely so. The leaf blades are usually palmately divided into 5–28 leaflets or reduced to a single leaflet in a few species of the southeastern United States. The flowers are produced in dense or open whorls on an erect spike, each flower 1–2 cm long, with a typical peaflower shape with an upper ‘standard’ or ‘banner’, two lateral ‘wings’ and two lower petals fused as a ‘keel’. Due to the flower shape, several species are known as bluebonnets or quaker bonnets. The fruit is a pod containing several seeds.” — Wikipedia

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More information on Lupine “Sunrise” (Lupinus hartwegii)

• Lupine at Wikipedia.org
• Lupine “Surprise” Planting Instructions from SFGate.com
• Lupine hartwegii at Backyard Garden

Previously in the Interesting Plant series: 

• Chinese Fringe Flower (Loropetalum chinense)
• Streptocarpus ‘Harlequin Blue’
• Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist, ragged lady)
• Epiphyllum (Orchid Cactus)
• Sempervivum ‘Westerlin’
• Gladiolus ‘Kings Lynn’
• Hosta sieboldiana ‘Dorothy Benedict’
• Begonia “Escargot”
• Asparagus Pea (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus)
• Rosa banksiae (Lady Banks’ Rose)
• Primula ‘Victoriana Silver Laced Black’
• Oxalis versicolor
• Poached Egg Plant (Limnanthes douglasii)
• Parisian Carrots
• Fritillaria imperialis Rubra Maxima
• Clematis “Fascination”
• Swiss Chard “Bright Lights”
• Georgia Rattlesnake Melon
• Dianthus Barbathus “Green Ball” or “Green Trick”
• Coleus “Religious Radish”
• Black Forest Calla Lily
• Black Bamboo