Tailcup Lupine
Lupinus caudatus
Tailcup lupine is a silvery-leaved perennial lupine of the dry Intermountain West, with violet-blue spikes that feed bees and host blue butterflies. Like other wild lupines, its seeds and pods carry quinolizidine alkaloids that cause "crooked calf" syndrome in grazing cattle.
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 5–5 ft
- Spacing
- 1–1.5 ft apart
- Light
- part shade
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- May, June, July, August
- Bloom colors
- blue
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, butterflies, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~35 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- border
- Native states
- AZ, CA, CO, ID, NE, NM, NV, OR, SD, UT, WY
Related native plants
More Lupinus species
- Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis)
- Miniature Lupine (Lupinus bicolor)
- Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis)
- Arroyo Lupine (Lupinus succulentus)
- Yellow Bush Lupine (Lupinus arboreus)
- Bigleaf Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus)