Search Fact Sheets Virginia Tech Dendrology

yellow bush lupine Fabaceae Lupinus arboreus Sims Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: LUAR
Leaf: Alternate, deciduous, palmately compound, 4 inches long, 5 to 11 elliptical to oblanceolate leaflets, each 1 to 2 1/2 inches long, gray-green and often with silky hairs.
Flower: Very showy yellow or sometimes purple in upright 6 inch spikes.
Fruit: Pea-like brown-hairy pods, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches long; twist open violently when ripe, expelling seeds.
Twig: Green to red-green.
Bark: Gray.
Form: Erect woody shrub to 6’ tall; ball-shaped when growing in the open.
 Looks like: dune lupine - silver lupine

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Additional Range Information: Lupinus arboreus is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDA Plants Database
All material 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information