Lupinus caudatus
species of plant
Lupinus caudatus is a widespread species of wildflower in genus Lupinus from western North America known by the common names tailcup lupin and spurred lupin. It is distinctive for the short spur on its purple-blue flowers, for which it is named. Because of its wide distribution and toxicity it commonly causes poisonings of susceptible livestock such as horses, cattle, and sheep, though it is eaten without harm by wild herbivores like deer and elk. It is generally found from the Coastal Ranges and Sierra Nevada Mountains in the west to the Rocky Mountains in the east.
Description
Lupinus caudatus is a cool-season herbaceous perennial plant. It develops a thick, deep taproot topped with a woody structure at the base of the stems at the top of the root at or just below ground level (a caudex). From this caudex it has flowering stems that may be branched or unbranched. Most of its leaves grow on individual leaf stems at the base of the plant (basal leaves) which are 6–10 centimeters (2.4–3.9 in) long. Each leaf is divided into 5–10 smaller leaflets attached together at a central point forming a rounded fan (palmate compound). The leaflets are most often 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) long, but may occasionally reach as much as 6 cm (2.4 in).
The public source identifies “Lupinus caudatus” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lupinus, caudatus and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 11, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q12841435. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lupinus caudatus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.