Silky Lupine
Lupinus sericeus
Silky lupine is a widespread western perennial with silky-haired leaves and blue-purple spikes, a nitrogen-fixing pollinator and butterfly-host plant for dry meadows. High in toxic lupine alkaloids, the pods are avoided by wildlife but vital to native bees and blue butterfly larvae.
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 6–6 ft
- Spacing
- 1–1.5 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade, shade
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral
- Bloom
- June, July, August
- Bloom colors
- blue, purple
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~35 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- hedge or screen, foundation
- Native states
- AZ, CO, ID, MT, NE, NM, NV, OR, SD, UT, WA, 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)