Lupinus hirsutissimus
| Wildflowers | Wildflowers | Dicots | Eudicots | Fabales | Fabaceae | Lupinus |
The latin name translates to the hairiest lupine, and, indeed, this variety is very hairy. The other local lupines are clean shaven, but this species has stiff hairs on stems, leaves and seed pods. The common name is “stinging lupine” because the hairs are stiff enough to pierce skin. This is a moderately rare species, growing on dry soils. There is a lot of it on upper Jesusita trail, and a few plants on Cold Spring trail (above the fire-road, below the trees), and a few on Mountain Dr. (about 100yards beyond the 3.5mile mark).
It is distinguished from our other lupines by having lots of hairs, and looking coarser. It also has fewer leaves in the rosette than the arroyo lupine.
Blooms January-June.
Young stinging lupines:
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| First two leaves look nothing like normal Lupine leaves | Next set are normal shaped, but darker than the adult leaf | A small forb with several leaf rosettes. |
Wildflowers in Santa Barbara 
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