Garden Lupin - Lupinus polyphyllus
Favourite Photos
Species Description
Widespread and scattered throughout the UK but most modern records outside of Scotland are thought to be mistakes for L. x regalis - which has replaced L. polyphyllus as the much grown garden plant. Habitat includes: wasteland, roadsides, railway banks, tips etc.
Stace 4:
Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. - Garden Lupin.
Differs from L. x regalis as in stem unbranched, with 1 inflorescence; flowers blue; leaflets obtuse to acute; lower lip of calyx 3-6mm; (2n=48). Neophyte-naturalised; formerly grown in gardens, naturalised by rivers and railways, sometimes in waste places; scattered in Scotland, ?England; West North America. Recorded across British Isles but mostly in error for L. x regalis. Flowers ?sometimes pink.
Key:
- Stems herbaceous, dying down to ground in winter
- Tuft-forming perennials
- Basal leaves present at flowering time; stem and petioles with rather sparse short hairs; lower lip of calyx 3-8mm.
- Stem unbranched, with 1 inflorescence; flowers blue; leaflets obtuse to acute; lower lip of calyx 3-6mm