[The Lupines of the Columbia River Gorge]
Hybrid Lupine
Lupinus leucophyllus X sericeus
A close-up of the flower of a hybrid lupine as seen along Washington Highway 14 on slopes above Wishram, WA........................October 7, 2006. The banner is more typically folded closely forward above the wings and keel than as seen on this specimen.
The photo above shows a close-up of the keel of the flower of a hybrid
lupine as seen along Washington Highway 14 on slopes above Wishram, WA........................October 7, 2006. The keel of velvet lupine is turned upwards and longer and more narrow than that of the similar silky lupine (Lupinus sericeus) which generally also has larger flowers.
Habitat:
The hybrid lupine of leucophyllus X sericeus may be found on dry, open rangeland or grasslands
from the lowlands to about 2500 feet in the foothills.
Range:
In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found between the elevations
of 100'-2500' on the Washington side of the river from about the Dallesport in the west and eastward
towards Roosevelt, WA and on the Oregon side of the river, from near Celilo, OR east to Arlington, OR. It can also be found southward between Wasco, OR and Condon, OR.
The photo above shows the tightly-flowered raceme of velvet lupine as seen along Washington Highway 14 at milepost 91 on slopes above the Avery Sand Pit........................October 7, 2006. Velvet lupine has a long, very tightly flowered raceme with flowers from 8-12 mm long.
Velvet lupine as seen along Washington Highway 14 on slopes above Wishram, WA........................October 7, 2006. The flowers viewed at the top of the page were from this plant.
Paul Slichter