Silky lupine is a perennial wildflower native to the drier areas of the Pacific Northwest. It has one to several erect stems that can range from 20 to 70 cm in high. The leaves are palmately-compound with 7 to 9 oblanceolate leaflets. The leaves are a silvery/rust color and covered in small velvety hairs. It is generally found in well drained soils in grasslands but also among ponderosa pine.

Lupine in a summer bloom that flowers from May to August locally, and the blooms are very striking. They grow in whorls up an erect spike 10 to 15cm long. The flowers are peaflower shaped and about 1cm long. They are generally lavender or blue but in rare cases can be yellow or white.

Lupine contain toxic alkaloids which can cause death in large amounts. It’s seeds however can be made edible though by soaking and boiling them in several changes of water, they must be processed until no bitter taste is left. If not done properly you could easily poison yourself though, so I doubt this a wild food I will ever be eating…

• Eastern Washington Wildflowers
• Montana Plant Life
• Wikipedia