Species

Lupinus polyphyllus

Common Name(s)

Russell lupin

Authority

Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.

Family

Fabaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

LUPPOL

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Habitat

Terrestrial. Establishes in waste places and lowland areas, streams, riverbeds and disturbed montane to subalpine areas.

Features

Herbaceous perennial; stems sparsely to moderately hairy, erect, branched from base. Leaflets 8~15, usu. glabrous above, sparsely to moderately sericeous below, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, acute to acuminate, 30-130 x 10-30 mm; stipules oblong-lanceolate, 15~35 mm long. Infl. 15-60 cm tall, many-flowered; peduncle up to 15 cm long. Lower flowers alternate; upper flowers subverticillate; pedicels 5-14mm long. Calyx densely hairy; upper lip shallowly 2-toothed; lower lip slightly longer, entire. Corolla blue, purple, pink, orange, yellow or white, often of 2 colours, slightly scented if at all, 12-20 mm long. Pod densely villous, 5-10-seeded, 30-50 mm long; seeds ellipsoid, smooth, dark brown and somewhat mottled, approx. 2 mm long. (Webb et al., 1988)

Flowering

September, October, November, December, January, February

Flower Colours

Lilac,Purple,Red / Pink,White,Yellow

Year Naturalised

1958

Origin

N. America

Reason for Introduction

Ornamental; now seriously invasive in South Canterbury, especially in gravel river beds and on road verges.

Life Cycle and Dispersal

See under 'Extra Information', below

Reason For Introduction
Ornamental

Life Cycle Comments
Perennial. Non vegetatively spreading perennial with some plants reaching 50 years (Timmins & MacKenzie 1995). Germination of seed occurs in autumn and spring (Timmins & MacKenzie 1995).

Reproduction
Reproduces from seed.

Seed
Seed is produced at 200-1 000 kg/ha. Seeds remain viable for 10 or more years (Timmins & MacKenzie 1995).

Dispersal
Explosive mechanism, humans, tourists, waterways (particularly in floods) (Timmins & MacKenzie 1995).

Tolerances
Highly tolerant of frost and poor drainage; slightly tolerant of shade and intolerant of drought. Can resprout from the base after physical damage and grazing (Timmins & MacKenzie 1995).

Poisonous plant:
The seed are poisonous if they are chewed or crushed before eating.


This page last updated on 19 Feb 2020