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| Lupinus truncatus |
| Family: Fabaceae (Legume) |
| Flowers — color: purple, size: 1/4", type: pea, banner & keel |
Small flowers grow to 1/4" or less, rich purple that fades to red as the flowers get pollinated. They form a raceme: a linear cluster where buds bloom serially from bottom to top.
Classic pea-shaped flower: two petals overlap forming the upper banner, and three petals curling to form the lower wings and keel [see Pacific pea]. Seeds develop in a peapod with built in torque. When the seeds are mature, the pod springs open. Each straight half of the pod curls quicky, which casts the seeds several feet away from the plant.
Habit:
Collared Annual Lupine is an annual herb, unlike the bush lupines in the reserve that are perennial shrubs. The main stem may grow 6 - 18" tall and branch heavily. Plants appear late in the rainy season and seem to die back after dispersing seeds in June. An area with these lupines was mowed in May 2023, a year of very good rains; a second crop went thru its cycle before the end of July.
The dark green leaves are very narrow and have a squared-off end. This blunt, truncated appearance suggests the scientific and common names. Five to eight leaves attach palmately, radially, to a short stem.
Open sunny areas.
Observations:
Many grow along the driveway to the local water tanks near St. Andrews, but I have also seen Collared Annual Lupine growing in unirrigated median strips of some neighbor's homes. Some lupine colonies do not recur each year, so some aging might be required for seed germination.