Carried by 10 nurseries
View Availability at NurseryData provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria
View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora
Lupinus chamissonis is a species in the Fabaceae (Legume) famly known by a number of common names. It is endemic to California, where it is known from most of the length of the coastline and scattered inland locations. It grows in sand dunes and other immediate coastal habitat. This is a spreading, bushy shrub growing one half to two meters tall. Each palmate leaf is made up of 5 to 9 leaflets up to 2.5 centimeters long. The herbage is coated in silvery hairs. The flower cluster bears whorls of flowers each about one to 1.5 centimeters long. Each flower is light purple to blue with a yellow spot on its banner. The fruit is a hairy legume pod 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters long.
Shrub
5 - 7 ft Tall
3 ft Wide
Fast
Evergreen
Blue, Lavender, Purple
Spring
Deer resistant
Full Sun
Low
Max 2x / month once established
Tolerates cold to 25° F
Fast
Prefers beach sand.
Tolerates saline soil..
Soil PH: 5.0 - 7.0
For propagating by seed: Fresh seeds need no treatment. Stored seeds scarification or hot water.
5, 14, 15*, 16*, 17*, 22*, 23*, 24*
Sand dunes, coastal strand, and other sandy mild-climate areas
Coastal Strand
Use with other coastal species such as Sand Verbena (Abronia spp.), Seaside Woolly Sunflower (Eriophyllum staechadifolium), Beach Morningglory (Calystegia soldanella), Beach Evening Primrose (Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia), Fleabane (Erigeron spp.), Coast Buckwheat (Eriogonum latifolium), and Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea)
Butterflies and moths supported
7 confirmed and 41 likely
Oso Flaco Flightless Moth
Areniscythris brachypteris
Orange Tortrix Moth
Argyrotaenia franciscana