Small Flower Lupine
Lupinus polycarpus
—
Not native
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
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At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 1 Alabama county.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
25CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Lupinus
- Apantesis phylliraPhyllira Tiger Moth
- Caenurgina crassiusculaForage Looper Moth, Clover Looper, Range Grass Moth
- Caenurgina erechteaClover Looper Moth, Common Grass Moth, Forage Looper
- Callophrys henriciHenry's Elfin
- Callophrys irusThe Hoary Elfin, Bog Elfin?, Frosted Elfin
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Colias philodiceClouded Sulphur, Clover Butterfly
- Cupido comyntasEastern Tailed-Blue
- Elasmopalpus lignosellaLesser Cornstalk Borer
- Euclidia cuspideaToothed Somberwing
Show all 25
- Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
- Gesta baptisiaeWild Indigo Duskywing, Baptisia Duskywing
- Glaucopsyche lygdamusSilvery Blue
- Grapholita tristriganaThree-Lined Grapholita
- Oedemasia concinnaRed-Humped Caterpillar, Red-Humped Appleworm
- Seirarctia echoEcho Moth
- Spodoptera dolichosSweetpotato Armyworm, Dolichos Armyworm, Large Cotton Armyworm
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Uresiphita reversalisGenista Caterpillar, Genista Cbroom Moth
- Utetheisa ornatrixOrnate Moth, Pink Underwing, Rattlebox Moth, Bella Moth
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
- Anacampsis lupinella
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Lupinus
- Megachile melanophaea
11BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lupinus
- Alectoris chukarChukar
- Antigone canadensisSandhill Crane
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Callipepla gambeliiGambel's Quail
- Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
- Junco hyemalisDark-eyed Junco
- Lagopus mutaRock Ptarmigan
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Melozone crissalisCalifornia Towhee
- Zonotrichia atricapillaGolden-crowned Sparrow
Show all 11
- Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications