Lupinus diffusus
Skyblue Lupine
Oak Ridge Lupine
Florida native
A common lupine in sandhills, scrub and dry open hammocks through much of the peninsula and the western half of the panhandle. The range includes the southeastern coastal states from Mississippi to North Carolina.
Lupinus diffusus is one of three Florida lupines that have simple leaves. Of these it is one of two that have obvious stipules, and the only one of those with blue flowers with a white or creamy spot. The other, lady lupine - L. villosus - has pink flowers with a conspicuous reddish-purple spot. L. westianus has simple leaves with obsolete stipules and occurs in two subspecies; var. westianus with blue flowers in the panhandle, and var. aridorum with pink flowers in central Florida.
Skyblue lupine is a perennial hairy plant that can grow to 1 meter (~ 3 ft.) tall, sometimes in large clumps. Pea-shaped flowers are numerous on terminal racemes. The legume is hairy, up to 2.5 cm (1 in.) long.
Lupinus diffusus is a member of the Fabaceae - Pea family.
Other species of the Lupinus genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Lupinus westianus var. aridorum - BECKNER'S LUPINE
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 07, 2016