Participant Info

Species

Lupinus caudatus [Lupinus argenteus var. argophyllus] [Lupinus caudatus subsp. argophyllus] [Lupinus aduncus] [Lupinus helleri]

Family

Fabaceae

CommonName

tallcup lupine, Kellogg's lupine

Presence

YES

Status

native

EarliestDate

1898

LatestDate

2019

Ecosystem

basin, foothill, montane, ruderal, urban

Geobotanical

SSawatch, SSanjuans, NCristos, LBasin

Counties

Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, Saguache

Passes

Poncha

WildlifePreserves

Rio Grande

Other Localities

Del Norte

PhotoRecords

YES Rich Haswell: Costilla Co, 3 miles E of Fort Garland 11 June 2015

Comments

Tallcup lupine is present on both sides of the Valley, but with collections concentrated around the Poncha Pass area, along the Rio Grande from Del Norte to Creede, and down the Conejos River as far as Antonito. It prefers grassy meadows, but has been found along roadsides and irrigation ditches. Note that some experts subsume Lupinus caudatus under L. argenteus, and indeed the mere length of the calix spur or bulge seems a questionable trait to separate species. L. caudatus is present in every state of the USA west of the Great Plains. According to BONAP, the species (or variety) follows the Rio Grande drainage down through New Mexico almost to the Mexican border but not farther.

Annotation