LARGE YELLOW LUPINE.
Lupinus arboreus, Sims. Pea Family.
Shrubby; four to ten feet high. Flowers.—Large; in a loose, whorled raceme; sulphur-yellow; very fragrant. Leaflets.—Four to eleven; generally about nine; narrowly lanceolate; nine to twenty lines long. Pods.—Two to three inches long; ten- to twelve-seeded; silky pubescent. (See Lupinus.) Hab.—Common from the Sacramento to San Diego.
The large yellow lupine is a common plant upon our wind-swept mesas, growing in sandy soil. Its shrubby form, somewhat silvery foliage, and large canary-colored, very fragrant flowers make it always a conspicuous and beautiful plant.
This species, together with L. albifrons, have been found most useful in anchoring the shifting sands of the dunes near San Francisco. It was accidentally discovered in a deep cutting that these lupines sent their roots down sometimes twenty feet, and the idea was conceived of making use of them in the above manner. Barley, which grows more rapidly than the lupine, was sown to protect the plants while very young. In a single year the lupines covered the sands with a dense growth, two or three feet high, sufficient to prevent them from shifting during the severest storms, and to allow of the subsequent planting of various pines, willows, and other trees. Thus the way was prepared for one of the most beautiful of pleasure-grounds—the Golden Gate Park of San Francisco which can hardly be rivaled anywhere for natural situation and diversity of scene.
One of our handsomest species is L. Stiveri, Kell., found in the Yosemite. Its blossoms have yellow standards and rose-colored wings.