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Santa Ynez False Lupine
Santa Ynez Goldenbanner
(Thermopsis macrophylla)
photo © Christopher
Christie
Santa
Ynez false lupine is one of the rarest plant species on the Los
Padres National Forest. It is found nowhere else in the world,
restricted to the Santa Ynez Mountains with only ten known
growth patches along a narrow band between La Cumbre Peak and
Santa Ynez Peak. While it is closely related to the California
false lupine, it is genetically unique
to only this area and is distinguished
by its hairier stem and more dense flower clusters. It grows
mostly in gravelly soils formed by Matilija sandstone deposits,
and in chaparral habitat.
The
“false lupine” is a botanical imposter, looking very much like
true lupines, but not genetically related to them. It is a
bush-like perennial plant (lives for many years) with long,
flowering stalks and golden, pea-shaped flower clusters. It is
also rhizomatous, meaning that its root system spreads out just
beneath the surface and sends out shoots that form new plants.
The Santa Ynez false lupine is the largest of all false lupines,
with mature plants reaching over 3 feet wide and 6 feet tall
when flowering,
usually between April and June.
A bee pollinates Santa Ynez
false-lupine flowers (left),
which will then become a stalk of seed pods (right). Photo ©
Brent Miller.
WILDFIRE &
THE FALSE LUPINE
Santa Ynez
false lupine is also a unique plant in that it is very dependent
on natural wildfire for reproduction. Its seeds accumulate in
the soil and they are stimulated to grow by the heat produced by
wildfire. Wildfire also clears an area of other plant species,
allowing the Santa Ynez false lupine more room to establish as
its heat-germinated seeds begin to grow. Fire suppression
therefore could harm the species in two ways: firstly, without
wildfire, new seeds do not germinate and grow; secondly, methods
of fire suppression like clear-cutting chaparral areas may
directly impact plants by removing them.Fuelbreak construction
and maintenance along the Santa Ynez Mountain ridgeline
continues to pose a threat to the survival of this unique plant.
THREATS &
CONSERVATION EFFORTS
Other
potential threats to Santa Ynez false lupine include road
maintenance, illegal off-road vehicle use, and invasive
non-native plants. The Forest Service is constructing a 40-mile
long fuelbreak from Refugio Pass to Romero Saddle, and they have
vowed to flag all Santa Ynez false lupine and protect them with
a ten-foot buffer. ForestWatch is working to ensure that this
protective measure is actually implemented, and to ensure that
the survey is current and complete. A 15-mile network of illegal
off-road vehicle trails on Camino Cielo also threatens this
species.
Santa Ynez
false lupine is considered by the Forest Service to be
“sensitive,” meaning that any number of activities could
negatively impact its survival due to its extremely small
populations and narrow distribution in the Santa Ynez Mountains.
For this reason, the Forest Service and the Santa Barbara
Botanic Garden have been working together to collect seeds from
wild plants to be held in storage and cultivated at the Garden.
In the case that the wild plants suffer large losses, these
seeds and plants will be available to bolster the species in the
wild.
photo © Brent Miller
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