Common name:
Yelloweyes
Family:
Scientific name:
Lupinus flavoculatus
Main flower color:
Range:
The Mojave Desert, and some adjoining areas
Height:
Up to 8 inches
Habitat:
Gravelly or sandy places in desert regions, from 2,000 to 7,000 feet
Leaves:
Divided into 7 to 9 oblanceolate leaflets, up to 0.8 inches long and 0.3 inches wide
Season:
April to June
The common name of lupinus flavoculatus, yelloweyes, refers to the banner petal, which is pale yellow at the center (often flecked with darker yellow spots); otherwise, all petals are uniformly purple to blue. The keel petal is hairless. Buds are pale yellow, or greenish. Flowers are a little less than half an inch long, produced as an dense, elongated, spirally-arranged cluster (not whorled), held above the leaves. The hairy calyx has a deeply lobed upper lip and a longer, unlobed lower lip.
Leaves grow mostly from near the base, on petioles of up to 2.4 inches. Upper leaf surfaces are hairless, while the undersides are covered by long, white, straggly hairs, as are the branched, reddish stems. Leaflets are grey-green in color, widest towards the tip, and often folded up along the midvein. Pods are short, only around 0.4 inches long, containing just one or two seeds; ovate in shape, and hairy.
Leaves grow mostly from near the base, on petioles of up to 2.4 inches. Upper leaf surfaces are hairless, while the undersides are covered by long, white, straggly hairs, as are the branched, reddish stems. Leaflets are grey-green in color, widest towards the tip, and often folded up along the midvein. Pods are short, only around 0.4 inches long, containing just one or two seeds; ovate in shape, and hairy.
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