BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Lupinus caudatus | Tailcup Lupine 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Tailcup lupine is a native, perennial, cool-season forb [28,41,51].
Simple or branched stems arise from a woody caudex and are generally 8
to 16 inches (20-40 cm) tall.  Leaves are basal and have 5 to 9
leaflets.  The inflorescence is a terminal raceme and flowers have a
conspicuous spur.  Pods contain four to six seeds [14,15,26,53].
Tailcup lupine has a stout, deep taproot [5].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Chamaephyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Tailcup lupine most often reproduces by seed [39,41,47].  The seeds are
heavy and are not widely dispersed.  They will germinate in full sun or
partial shade.  Tailcup lupine is not rhizomatous but will sprout from
the caudex [39].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Tailcup lupine is found on dry sites on gentle to steep slopes and in
open woods [8,9,26].  It grows best in dry, well-drained gravelly,
sandy, sandy-loam, and clayey-loam soils.  It does not grow well in clay
or other organic, sodic-saline, or acid soils.  Tailcup lupine has been
found to 10,400 feet (3,150 m) elevation in Colorado [8].

Species commonly associated with tailcup lupine in sagebrush or
grassland habitats include Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii), mountain
snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus), Wood's rose (Rosa woodsii),
curlleaf mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus ledifolius), manzanita
(Arctostaphylos spp.), Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis),
rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.), broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia
sarothrae), wyethia (Wyethia spp.), arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza
sagittata), knotweed (Polygonum spp.), buckwheat (Eriogonum spp.),
penstemon (Penstemon spp.), phlox (Phlox spp.), bluebunch wheatgrass
(Pseudoroegneria spicata), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda),
needle-and-thread grass (Stipa comata), Idaho fescue (Festuca
idahoensis), Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), buffalograss
(Buchloe dactyloides), and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) [1,3,5,10,43].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Tailcup lupine persists under partial shade, but it's cover increases
with more sunlight and less competition [39].  It occurs in seral to
climax sagebrush habitats in Nevada and Idaho [3,37], and in seral to
climax lodgepole forests in Oregon [49].  It is also a component of
climax pinyon-juniper habitats in Colorado [10].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Tailcup lupine is a cool-season species with maximum growth occurring in
the spring [47].  Flowering begins in May in Utah and Colorado, and in
June in Wyoming and Montana [8].  Fruits are generally mature by July or
August [41].

Related categories for Species: Lupinus caudatus | Tailcup Lupine