Scrub Lupine (Lupinus westianus var. aridorum)
Pea Family (Fabaceae)
Scrub lupine is a shrubby herb, growing to 3 feet tall. It has short, appressed, silky, silver hairs throughout. The leaves are mostly elliptic with long stalks and gray-green, turning more light bronze with age. The typical pea flowers are pale flesh-colored pink with a deep maroon spot on upper petal, which is rolled upwards. Flowers from March through May. The fruit is a woolly, woody, and beaked pod. Only found in a few locations on the Mount Dora and Winter Haven ridges in Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties, Florida, it occurs in scrub in sandy openings and disturbed xeric sands. Formally known as Lupinus aridorum. Also known as Beckner’s lupine or McFarlin’s lupine. Listed as endangered federally and by the state of Florida.
Copyright Brett Miley
