[Lupines: The Genus Lupinus East of the Cascade Mts. of Oregon and Washington]
Bingen Lupine, Soft Lupine, Whitish Lupine
Lupinus sulphureus ssp. subsaccatus
Synonyms: Lupinus bingensis var. bingensis, Lupinus bingensis var. dubius, Lupinus bingensis var. subsaccatus, Lupinus leucopsis
var. bingensis, Lupinus leucopsis var. mollis, Lupinus mollis, Lupinus sulphureus var. subsaccatus
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The photo at left shows a close-up of the small flower of Bingen lupine as seen from near the summit of Chewelah Peak in the Colville N.F. of northeastern Washington.........June 23, 2006. The photo at right shows Bingen lupine blooming along a jeep road north of Box Canyon Road, Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area......May 10, 2021.
Characteristics:
Bingen lupine is a perennial lupine to 10 dm tall. It tends
to have basal leaves present during flowering, with the lower leaf petioles
3 to 5 times longer than the leaflet blades, while the upper stem leaves may
have petioles shorter than the blades. The compound palmate leaves may have
from 9 to 11 narrow, oblanceolate leaflets with acute tips. The leaflets may
be hairless above and sparsely to very hairy beneath, or they may be equally
very haired on both surfaces. Variety subsaccatus tends to have pubescence
on both leaflet surfaces.
The flowers are bluish or purple (variety sulphureus
has yellow flowers) and found on 6 to 15 cm long racemes (usually less than
10 cm in variety subsaccatus. The calyx is silky and it is asymetrical
although it isn't spurred. The upper lip of the flower is bidentate, while the
lower is entire. The banner isn't reflexed very much from the wings or keel.
Habitat:
Bingen lupine prairies and sagebrush desert from the foothills up to moderate altitudes in the
mountains where it can be found in meadows and open forest.
Range:
Bingen lupine ranges from British Columbia south along the
eastern edge of the Cascades to California, and ranges eastward to Idaho.
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Theese photos show a close-up (left) of the "sickle-tipped" keel and a frontal view of the flower (center) and a view of the back of the banner and upper calyx of sulphur lupine as seen from the Horse Heaven Hills west of Richland, WA...........April 28, 2006. Note the tiny hairs lining the upper margin of the keel.
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Compound palmate leaf (left) and close-up of the stem of Bingen lupineas seen from
the Horse Heaven Hills west of Richland, WA...........April 17, 1998.
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The photo at left shows Bingen lupine as seen in a meadow about one mile below the summit of Chewelah Peak, Colville N.F.........June 23, 2006. The photo at right shows Bingen lupine as seen with northern buckwheat (Eriogonum compositum) in forest openings along the Wapaloosie Mountain Trail #15 in the Kettle Range, Colville National Forest.........June 23, 2016.
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Bingen lupine observed along the old highway west of Sprague Lake, WA, near the junction with the road to the Sprague Lake Public Access site, Adams County, WA.....June 23, 2022.
The photo above shows Bingen lupine in grasslands atop the Horse Heaven Hills near Benton City, WA...........April 28, 2006. Note that this species has basal leaves which have not withered away by the time of blooming.
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Two views of Bingen lupine as seen along Washington Highway 14 at milepost 115.5 west of Rock Creek..........May 11, 2009.
The photo above shows a close-up of the small flower of Bingen lupine as seen from the Horse Heaven Hills west of Richland, WA...........April 28, 2006.
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The photos above show close-ups of leaf details as well as the racemes and whole plant as seen along the Umatilla Rim Trail along the eastern edge of the North Fork Umatilla Wilderness in northeastern Oregon...........June 24, 2007. Upper Row, left to right: lower leaflet details, upper leaflet details, and upper leaf surface. Lower Row, left to right: view of full plant and upper stem wtih raceme.
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The photos above show views of the flowers and racemes of Bingen lupine as seen on slopes above Wilson Creek, a BLM site about 10 miles southwest of Wilbur, WA...........April 30, 2007.
The photo above shows Bingen lupine as seen atop Selah Butte to the north of Selah, WA...........April 24, 2007.
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The photos above show several views of Bingen lupine as seen along Forest Road #040 near Sunset Point in the Umatilla National Forest of southeastern Washington.........June 25, 2007. Top (left to right): upper leaflet surface, lower leaflet surface, and upper surface of the banner, minus the calyx (note the hairs on the upper banner). Lower (left to right): sideview of the banner, and a whitish-flowered version of this lupine.
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Bingen lupine blooming along Dipping Vat Road, Wenas Wildlife Area (or adjacent DNR lands), Yakima County, WA.......May 24, 2019.
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The photos above show Bingen lupine from the Rattlesnake Hills northeast of Sunnyside, WA...May 10, 1997.
Paul Slichter