Search / Plant Profile / Lupinus westianus var. aridorum

Plant Profile

Scrub Lupine (Lupinus westianus var. aridorum)

The upper petal of the otherwise pink flower of L. aridorum has a black center surrounded by a maroon area. Flowers are arranged in racemes, with each raceme holding from 5 up to 25 flowers. Photo Credit: Jon Shaw

Global Rank: T1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Endangered
Family: Fabaceae
State: FL
Nature Serve ID: 133225
Lifeform: Subshrub
Date Inducted in National Collection: 06/18/1986

Description:

Scrub lupine is a woody perennial herb, and is the only upright, pink-flowering lupine in Florida. On stems that can reach 1 m in height are 4-7 cm long leaves that are pointed at the top and rounded at the base. Both leaves and stems are covered by thousands of tiny silver hairs. In bloom between March and May, the flowers of Lupinus aridorum are a pale-pink color, 4-5 cm long, and appear in groups of 5 to 14 on flowering racemes. The fruit of this species is found in June, and is long (2-2.5cm), woody, and elliptic in shape, tapering to a sharp tip. (USFWS 1999)

Where is Scrub Lupine (Lupinus westianus var. aridorum) located in the wild?

Habitat:

The species is found in sand pine or rosemary scrub where it grows in both white and yellow sand of the Lakeland or St. Lucie series. Historically, Lupinus aridorum probably grew in scrub gaps until fire suppression and other lack of disturbance resulted in excessive shading and gap closure.

Distribution:

Lupinus aridorum is endemic to Polk, Orange, and Oceola Counties in central Florida where it occurs on the Mt. Dora Ridge in Orange and on the Winter Haven Ridge in Polk County (FNAI 2000). It is unu

States & Provinces:

Scrub Lupine can be found in Florida

Which CPC Partners conserve Scrub Lupine (Lupinus westianus var. aridorum)?

Bok Tower Gardens

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Not Sponsored

Assigned 06/13/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

Tina Stanley

07/28/2022

Scrub lupine (Lupinus aridorum) is found on white sand scrub in limited area and just on two ridge systems in central Florida: the Mount Dora Ridge and the Winter Haven Ridge. Both areas are densely urbanized and have reduced the species to primarily one small, viable population on each ridge. All seeds produced from one of the last population on the Mount Dora Ridge were collected as part of a rare plant rescue effort. A subset of this ‘fresh’ collection was submitted as part of the CPC-IMLS project, along with seeds from the ‘original’ accession collected from that same population. A subset of the ‘fresh’ seeds were dissected to test for percent intact, and 100% were intact and expected to be viable.

Center for Plant Conservation

08/19/2021

In 2021, CPC contracted Bok Tower Gardens to recollect seed from a population currently held in long term orthodox seed storage as part of an IMLS-funded seed longevity experiment. The National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation will evaluate how germination tested viability and RNA Integrity of seed lots decline over time in storage.

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

A taxon with a very narrow range and low abundance: the Florida Natural Areas Inventory currently contains 35 occurrence records in its database, all located in Orange, Polk, and Osceola counties, Florida. Most of the occurrences are in degraded, roadside situations. There is great pressure on the habitat from unrestricted land development for housing and recreation.

Dorothy M. Brazis

01/01/2010

Principal causes of decline include habitat destruction, trampling by grazers and off-road vehicles, conversion of high pineland and scrub for agricultural purposes (principally citrus groves), and for commercial, residential, and recreational purposes, m

Dorothy M. Brazis

01/01/2010

Only 15 populations remain with fewer than 1000 plants (FNAI 2000). Most of the populations are on private land. It is found at 10 sites on the Mt. Dora Ridge in Orange and 6 sites on the Winter Haven Ridge in Polk County (FNAI 2000). In 1986, the total population was estimated to be fewer than 350 plants in 11 current populations.

Dorothy M. Brazis

01/01/2010

Jack Stout of University of Central Florida monitors this species. Charba has been studying populations in Orange County by examining dead plants and by culturing parasites found on these plants.

Dorothy M. Brazis

01/01/2010

No active management known to be in progress.

Dorothy M. Brazis

01/01/2010

Determine current distribution. Protect and enhance existing populations. Monitor existing populations of L. aridorum. Educate the public. Prevent degradation of existing habitat. Restore areas to suitable habitat. Conduct habitat-level research projects. Monitor habitat/ecological processes. Germination and propagation techniques and soil seedbank studies.

Dorothy M. Brazis

01/01/2010

Conduct research on life history characteristics. Maintain plants in ex situ collections.