Father Crowley's lupine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Father Crowley's lupine |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Lupinus
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| Species: |
padre-crowleyi
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| Synonyms | |
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Lupinus dedeckerae |
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Lupinus padre-crowleyi is a rare species of lupine known by the common names DeDecker's lupine and Father Crowley's lupine. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the high plateau below along the western border of Inyo County. It grows in the granite soils of the mountain forests and scrub. It has been noted at fewer than 20 locations. This is a perennial herb growing an erect inflorescence from a mat of silvery, woolly-haired herbage, reaching maximum heights over half a meter. Each palmate leaf is made up of 6 to 9 leaflets up to 7.5 centimeters long. The inflorescence is a raceme of whorled flowers each just over a centimeter long. The flower is cream to pale brownish yellow in color. The fruit is a silky-haired legume pod containing black-mottled white seeds.
This lupine was described to science twice and today goes by its first official name, which honors local writer Father John J. Crowley. Its synonym, Lupinus dedeckerae, honors plant collector Mary DeDecker.
