About Lupinus elatus I.M.Johnst.
Lupinus elatus I.M.Johnst. is a species of lupine commonly called the tall silky lupine. It is endemic to California, found in the Transverse Ranges above Los Angeles, and may also occur on the southernmost slopes of the Sierra Nevada. It grows in dry areas within mountain forests. This plant is an erect perennial herb that grows up to roughly 90 centimeters tall. Each of its leaves is palmate, made up of 6 to 8 leaflets that can reach 8 centimeters in length. All above-ground plant parts are covered in silvery silky to woolly hairs. Its flowering structure is a long raceme, with individual flowers around one centimeter long arranged in whorls. Each flower is purple or blue, with a pale yellow patch on its banner petal. After flowering, it produces a legume pod that is 2 to 3 centimeters long. Lupinus elatus acts as a host plant for the San Gabriel Mountains Arrowhead Blue (Glaucopsyche piasus ssp. gabrielina), a butterfly subspecies native to Southern California.
