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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Friday - January 23, 2009

From: Penngrove, CA
Region: California
Topic: Invasive Plants
Title: The invasiveness of Lupinus arboreus
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

Hi, Researching Lupinus arboreus, I found that it is considered a serious invasive in Northern California coastal areas, especially Humbolt Bay. Scotch broom, of course, is an awful pest on the coast as well as inland in California, but I would hope no one would replace it with Yellow beach lupine, which besides spreading rapidly, changes soil composition which encourages other weeds, and interbreeds with other lupines, threatening the species' purity. So I hope you will explain this on your site. Thanks. M.L. Carle Invasives chair, Sonoma County chapter of California Native Plant Society

ANSWER:

You are right.  Lupinus arboreus (yellow bush lupine) is an interesting example of a plant being both native to and invasive in a single state -  in this case, California.  We have noted the species' special, troublesome characteristics in our NPIN Plants Database record for that species.


Lupinus arboreus

 

 
 

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