Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Uncommon

About

A tall herbaceous perennial native to coastal Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, bearing dense spikes of blue-violet flowers above palmate leaves with 7–9 leaflets. Introduced to Iceland in the 1940s for erosion control, it has since spread across vast stretches of the island, dramatically transforming its volcanic landscapes.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Lupinus
Species: Lupinus nootkatensis