Sierra Lupine

Perennial, Herbs, Stems woody below, or fr om woody crown or caudex, Taproot present, Nodules present, Stems erect or ascending, Stems less than 1 m tall, Stems solid, Stems or young twigs sparsely to densely hairy, Stem hairs hispid to villous, Stems silvery, canescent, tomentose, cobwebby, or wooly, 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 bicolored or with red, purple or yellow streaks or spots, Banner petal ovoid or obovate, Wing petals narrow, oblanceolate to oblong, Wing tips obtuse or rounded, Keel petal s 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 grayi is a species of lupine known by the common name Sierra lupine. It is endemic to California, where its distribution extends the length of the Sierra Nevada and its foothills and includes the Tehachapi Mountains.

It is a common plant of the mountain forests, where it sometimes carpets meadows with its woolly green herbage and purple flower spikes. This is a low, prostrate perennial herb forming spreading mats 20 or 30 centimeters high. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 11 leaflets up to 3.5 centimeters long.

The inflorescence bears dense whorls of flowers each just over a centimeter long. Each flower is purple or blue with a yellow or reddish patch on the banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod which is up to 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) in length.