FREE: 100 Arroyo Lupine Seeds

The listing, 100 Arroyo Lupine Seeds has ended.

"Lupinus succulentus" Arroyo Lupine is an annual wildflower in much of western California, parts of Arizona and Baja California. It’s a lowland plant, usually growing in open places, coastal prairies and grasslands below 2000 ft. elevation. Arroyo Lupine is the largest native annual lupines. Like all annuals, it completes its entire life cycle in less than a year. The bright green leaves of Arroyo Lupine are ‘compound’, composed of several leaflets. The leaf shape is called ‘palmate’ because the leaf looks like an open hand. This leaf shape is shared with other lupines and, along with the flowers, is a distinguishing characteristic of the lupines. The leaves are designed to trap water and channel it down to the soil. On a foggy day you will notice water droplets gathering on the leaves. These droplets run down the leaves and into the ground, providing water to the roots. The leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of several butterflies such as the Painted Lady, West Coast Lady and Common Sulfur, so Arroyo Lupines attract butterflies to the garden. Arroyo Lupine, like all lupines, is a member of the Pea Family. The flowers are densely spaced on flowering stalks that grow above the foliage to attract pollinators. The flowers are a bright blue-purple with a white dot. If you look at the individual flowers, you will see the similarity to Sweet Peas and garden peas – all of which are in the Pea Family. Arroyo Lupine flowers are pollinated by bees (often the larger bees) and occasionally by hummingbirds. You can tell if a flower has been pollinated because it changes from blue-purple to a pink-purple color.