Index of Species Information
Introductory
SPECIES: Lupinus sericeus
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Matthews, Robin F. 1993. Lupinus sericeus. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/lupser/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
LUPSER
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
LUSE4
COMMON NAMES :
silky lupine
blue-bonnet lupine
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of silky lupine is Lupinus
sericeus Pursh [5,11,13,41]. Lupinus is a taxonomically complex genus
and there is much confusion regarding nomenclature. Species within the
genus are extremely variable and freely intergrade, making morphological
characteristics used to separate taxa few and inconsistent. There is
much disagreement among authorities concerning recognized subspecies,
varieties, and forms of silky lupine [12,13,18,41].
LIFE FORM :
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Lupinus sericeus
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Silky lupine is distributed east of the Cascade Range from British
Columbia south to California and Arizona and east to Alberta, Montana,
South Dakota, Colorado, and New Mexico [5,11,12,22,41].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES25 Larch
FRES26 Lodgepole pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
AZ CA CO ID MT NE NV NM ND OR
SD UT WA WY AB BC
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K007 Red fir forest
K008 Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K014 Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K020 Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce - fir forest
K022 Great Basin pine forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K025 Alder - ash forest
K028 Mosaic of K002 and K026
K033 Chaparral
K034 Montane chaparral
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K050 Fescue - wheatgrass
K051 Wheatgrass - bluegrass
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
SAF COVER TYPES :
203 Balsam poplar
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
207 Red fir
208 Whitebark pine
209 Bristlecone pine
210 Interior Douglas-fir
212 Western larch
213 Grand fir
216 Blue spruce
217 Aspen
218 Lodgepole pine
219 Limber pine
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
237 Interior ponderosa pine
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon - juniper
243 Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
256 California mixed subalpine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Silky lupine is found in a range of habitats including grasslands,
sagebrush, mountain brush, and aspen and conifer forests [5,22,41]. The
following publications list silky lupine as an herbaceous layer dominant
in Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) or common snowberry (Symphoricarpos
albus) habitats:
Grassland vegetation in the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming [14]
Plant associations of the Wallowa-Snake Province: Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest [16]
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Lupinus sericeus
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Silky lupine is readily to moderately available within its range and is
consumed from a moderate to high degree by white-tailed deer, upland
game birds, small nongame birds, and small mammals [6]. In sagebrush
habitats in the River of No Return Wilderness, Idaho, silky lupine
comprised 6 percent of the summer diet of bighorn sheep [8]. Dead
aerial portions of the plant are preferred by bighorn sheep in winter
in Glacier National Park, Montana [32]. The leaves and flowers of silky
lupine are preferred by Columbia ground squirrels [23].
PALATABILITY :
Palatability of silky lupine in Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Montana is
poor to fair for cattle and horses and fair for sheep [6].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Silky lupine is generally poor in energy and protein value [6].
Nutrient values from plants collected in July in the River of No
Return Wilderness, Idaho, were 26 percent crude fiber; 17 percent crude
protein; 1.09 percent calcium; and 0.21 percent phosphorous. Moisture
content was 62 percent [8].
COVER VALUE :
Silky lupine provides fair to good cover for small nongame birds and
small mammals [6].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Silky lupine is useful in the rehabilitation of disturbed areas
[4,20,29]. Its ability to fix nitrogen allows it to colonize repeatedly
disturbed and low-fertility soils. It has established in old roadbeds
in abandoned mining towns of Montana [20], and in Grand Teton National
Park, Wyoming [4]. Overall, silky lupine has been given a medium to low
rating for erosion control and long-term revegetation potential in Utah,
Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana [6]. Lupines as a whole have
possibilities for use in management, but more information is needed on
the response of the genus to stand disturbance in a wide range of
habitats [17].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Silky lupine is a highly toxic plant, especially to sheep [15,23]. It
is less toxic to cattle and horses [19], but causes calf deformities if
ingested by cows between 40 to 70 days gestation [15,27,37]. It
produces quinolizidine alkaloids which affect the nervous system of
livestock [27]. Lupines (Lupinus spp.) are responsible for more losses
among sheep in Montana, Idaho, and Utah than any other single plant
genus [19]. Silky lupine is toxic from the beginning of growth in the
spring until it dries in late summer [15,37]. Dried plants are probably
poisonous as well [19]. Sheep are poisoned by ingesting 0.125 to 0.25
pound (0.06-0.11 kg) daily for 3 to 4 days. Cattle are poisoned by
ingesting 1.0 to 1.5 pounds (0.45-0.68 kg) daily. Livestock normally
consume silky lupine only when other forage is unavailable [15,37].
The symptoms associated with silky lupine poisoning have been described
in detail [19,37]. Silky lupine is apparently not toxic to wildlife
[6,27].
Silky lupine increases under intensive grazing, and is most abundant
under poor or fair range conditions [16,39,40]. It often forms nearly
pure stands in overgrazed areas [39]. Poisoning of livestock occurs
when poor range management has resulted in overgrazing and depletion of
preferred rangeland species [27]. Where lupine species are common,
ranges should be utilized when other forage is abundant and especially
when lupines are not in fruit [37]. Silky lupine has been controlled by
various esters of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T [15,37]. Plants should be sprayed
after they are approximately 5 inches (12.7 cm) tall, but before they
bloom [15]. After spraying, grazing should be deferred to let desirable
plant species occupy the range.
Lupines (L. sericeus and L. caudatus) responded with minor changes in
canopy cover to different management regimes in Douglas-fir/pinegrass
(Pseudotsuga mensiesii/Calamagrostis rubescens) habitat types in central
Idaho. The plants decreased slightly in canopy cover, but seedlings
established when stands were selectively cut or clearcut followed by
mechanical scarification. There was a slight increase in growth in
stands that were clearcut with no site preparation. Seedling
establishment and an increase in cover were evident in stands destroyed
by wildfire and in stands that were clearcut followed by broadcast
burning [35]. In ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) types in eastern
Washington, silky lupine increased 1,100 percent in plots thinned with
26-foot (8.0 m) spacing. There was no increase in unthinned plots [26].
Silkly lupine is the dominant forb in Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis)
grasslands of the Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming. It produces an average of
156 pounds per acre (175.5 kg/ha), and comprises 9 percent of the total
production of all stands [14].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Lupinus sericeus
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Silky lupine is a native, perennial, cool-season forb [39,40]. Simple
or branched stems arise from a woody caudex. Plants are generally 8 to
20 inches (20-50 cm) tall. Leaves are mostly basal and have seven to
nine leaflets. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme. Flowers are
conspicuously hairy on the dorsal side of the banner. Pods contain
three to seven seeds [11,12,41]. Silky lupine has a deeply buried root
system [35].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Chamaephyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Silky lupine most often reproduces by seed [6,35,39]. The seeds are
heavy and are not widely dispersed. They will germinate in full sun or
partial shade. Silky lupine is not rhizomatous but will sprout from the
caudex [35].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Silky lupine is found on dry, rocky sites on gentle to steep slopes and
in open woods [7,11,19]. It grows best in dry, sandy, loamy,
sandy-loam, and clayey-loam soils. It does not grow well in clay or
other organic, acid, or sodic-saline soils. Silky lupine has been found
to 10,000 feet (3,030 m) elevation in Colorado and Utah [6].
Some species commonly associated with silky lupine include Gambel oak
(Quercus gambelii), common snowberry, ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus),
serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.),
arrowleaf balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), western yarrow (Achillea
millefolium), heartleaf arnica (Arnica cordifolia), pinegrass, bluebunch
wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda),
fescues (Festuca idahoensis and F. scabrella), prairie junegrass
(Koeleria cristata), and sedges (Carex spp.) [16,25,33].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Silky lupine can persist under partial shade, but its cover increases
with more sunlight and less competition [35]. It has greater abundance
in early seral stages of plant succession in the Wallowa-Snake Province,
Oregon [16]. Silky lupine is also present in late seral
Douglas-fir/pinegrass habitats in Idaho [35], and in climax ponderosa
pine forests throughout the western United States [42].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Silky lupine is a cool-season species [40]. In western Montana, growth
begins in May and flowering occurs from June through July. Seed
dissemination takes place in August, and plants are dried by the end of
that month [28]. Throughout its range, silky lupine generally flowers
from June through August or September [6].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Lupinus sericeus
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Silky lupine has a deep root system and sprouts from the caudex
following disturbance [24,35]. Seeds are stored in the soil and
germinate on mineral soil in full sun or partial shade. Stored seeds
may be 100 percent viable [20,35].
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Caudex, growing points in soil
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Lupinus sericeus
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Aboveground portions of silky lupine are most likely destroyed by fire.
Deeply buried roots probably survive even severe fires.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Some lupines are fire survivors and are present in the initial stages of
postfire plant succession [17]. Silky lupine is generally enhanced or
not affected by fire [16]. Following fire, it germinates from buried
seed. It is a prominant forb in burned aspen stands in the Caribou
National Forest, Wyoming [3]. It is also dominant in postfire
communities in mountain big sagebrush/rough fescue (Artemisia tridentata
ssp. vaseyana/Festuca scabrella) and Douglas-fir/mountain big sagebrush
vegetation types in the Helena National Forest, Montana [34]. Silky
lupine showed no significant change in cover after fire in fescue
grasslands in western Montana, although burning occured before August
senescence [1].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
The Research Project Summary Changes in grassland vegetation following fire
in northern Idaho provides information on prescribed fire and postfire
response of silky lupine and other plant species that was not available
when this species review was written.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Lupinus sericeus
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