Santa Lucia Lupine

Perennial, Herbs, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems very short, acaulescent or subacaulescent, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs glabrous or sparsely glabrate, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Leaves alternate, Leaves petiolate, Stipules conspicuous, Stipules setiform, subulate or acicular, Stipules persistent, Stipules adnate to petiole, Leaves compound, Leaves palmately 5-11 foliate, Leaf or leaflet margins entire, Leaflets 5-9, Leaves hairy on one or both surfaces, Inflorescences racemes, Inflorescence terminal, Bracts conspicuously present, Bracts very small, absent or caducous, Bracteoles present, Flowers zygomorphic, Calyx 5-lobed, Calyx 2-lipped or 2-lobed, Calyx hairy, Petals separate, Corolla papilionaceous, Petals clawed, Petals blue, lavander to purple, or violet, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petals auriculate, spurred, or gibbous, Stamens 9-10, Stamens or anthers dimorphic, alternating large and small, Stamens monadelphous, united below, Filaments glabrous, Style terete, Fruit a legume, Fruit unilocular, Fruit freely dehiscent, Fruit elongate, straight, Fruit oblong or ellipsoidal, Fruit exserted from calyx, Fruit internally septate between the seeds, Fruit hairy, Fruit 3-10 seeded, Seeds ovoid to rounded in outline, Seed surface smooth, Seeds olive, brown, or black, Seed surface mottled or patchy.

Lupinus cervinus is a species of lupine known by the common name Santa Lucia lupine. It is endemic to the Santa Lucia Mountains in the Central Coast Ranges in California, where it is an uncommon member of the flora in the mountain forests. This is a hairy gray-green perennial herb growing up to 30–70 centimetres (12–28 in) tall. The erect stem is surrounded by clusters of spreading leaves. Each palmate leaf is made up of 4 to 8 leaflets up to 8 centimetres (3.1 in) long and 3 centimetres (1.2 in) wide, which is wider than the leaflets of most lupines. The inflorescence bears many flowers, sometimes in whorls, each between 1 centimetre (0.39 in) and 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long. The flower is often bright pink, but may be shades of blue to nearly white. There is often a yellow patch on the banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod up to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) long.