yerbasanta's Identifications

A hairy plant, less than 2 inches tall, with red leaves growing on a rock, on an exposed mountain ridge top.
It looks like Lupine with the small, green, hairy pea pods. But the red leaves seem unusual.

COMPARISON of 2 LUPINE:

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Miniature Lupine (Lupinus bicolor) Native, annual Lupine growing in a grassy meadow. A low, fairly inconspicuous plant, often growing with and sometimes confused with immature Sky Lupine (Lupinus nanus). It is found in many plant communities throughout California. The flower clusters are smaller, and the white banner spot on the keel is taller than it is wide (the opposite of Sky Lupine), and wraps around less deeply. Flowers are whorled, with shorter pedicels toward the top. The keel is generally ciliate on the upper margin near the pointed tip. Peak bloom time: March-June.

Excellent Introduction to Lupine anatomy/I.D.
http://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/identification.html#characters

Calflora https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=5118

Jepson eFlora with botanical illustration: https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=31793

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 164-165.

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 114.

Monterey County Wildflowers, Trees & Ferns https://montereywildflowers.com/fabaceae-lupine-ann/

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 50.

Oregon Flora https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=6305

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COMPARED TO

Bajada Lupine (Lupinus concinnus) Native, annual, hairy plant that grows 1-3 dm (up to 12 inches) tall in dry, sandy, disturbed soils, in many plant communities. Stems are decumbent to erect. It has long, spreading hairs covering its stem and leaves. Leaves have 5–9 leaflets, 1-3 cm long. Flowers are spiraled, but sometimes solitary in leaf axils, peduncle <= 8 cm. Petals are pink to purple (occasionally white). Some of the flowers appear on lower leaf axils. Banner spot is white or yellowish. Keel is generally glabrous. Peak bloom time: March-April. Fruit are hairy, 1--1.5 cm long and 3--5 mm wide.
Link to confirmed observation of fruiting Bajada Lupine: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/163034899

Link to confirmed observations of flowering Bajada Lupine in March: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/153288905 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165593755 and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/202127959

Calflora species distribution map: https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=5129

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=31835

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (and more) https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Lupinus%20concinnus

Lupine (Lupinus) anatomy, etc. Pictorial Guide to Characteristics Needed for Lupine Identification, by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/identification.html

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A. Munz, 1975 (species not listed)

Flora of North America http://beta.floranorthamerica.org/Main_Page (species not listed)

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 164-165.

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 114.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 51.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/fabaceae-lupine-ann/

Leaf Shape and Arrangement diagrams: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary, 2nd ed., by James G. Harris and M. W. Harris, 2022.

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Lupine (genus Lupinus) are in the Pea (Fabaceae) family. They are nitrogen fixers and they help sequester carbon in the soil. "The Pea family has 5-petaled flowers, consisting of a wide upper banner petal, two wing petals, plus two lower petals which are fused to form a boat-shaped keel. Many produce heads or spikes, consisting of multiple individual flowers (examples are lupines and clovers). The seed pod is generally a “legume”; a long, flattish pod, swollen by the seeds, and splitting lengthwise along both the top and bottom.
Most lupines have distinct clusters of flowers in spikes, sometimes short, sometimes quite tall. Leaves are typically palmately compound, with leaflets ranging from very narrow to broad. It is useful to note whether the flowers are in whorls around the stem. It can also be critical to look at the keel, to see the pattern of hairs. Some are ciliate on both the top and bottom of the keel; some have hairs only near the claw (base), others only near the tip." https://montereywildflowers.com/fabaceae-lupine-per/

Pictorial Guide to Some Characteristics Needed for Lupine Identification http://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/identification.html

Key to Lupinus: Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=9370

Jepson eFlora Filter Key for Lupinus in CCo (Monterey County) https://keybase.rbg.vic.gov.au/keys/show/3690?filter_id=55b17b2b4727a

INaturalist Project: Lupines of California https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lupines-of-california

Lupine I.D. Tips and Links by INat @yerbasanta :
"Reveal and photograph the keel petal (hidden within the wings) to document the hairs (if any) on the upper and lower surface along the entire length.
Keel image: https://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/pix/lupinus_formosus_g4_17_crop_70_label.jpg
Guide to documenting lupines in more detail (including calyx, banner spots, etc): https://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/identification.html#fig_1_caption

Coastal Bush Lupine (Lupinus arboreus) Endemic/native, erect, perennial shrub in the Legumes (Fabaceae) family that grows in sandy soils and serpentine soil. A.k.a. Tree Lupine or Yellow Bush Lupine. Plant can appear green-glabrous to silver-hairy. Sometimes a woody, central stem is visible (giving it the name Tree Lupine). Keel is ciliated along entire upper margin; lower margin is glabrous or ciliate. Flowers may be yellow, purple, or a mix of both. Peak bloom time: April-June. Fruits are 4-7cm long and hairy.
Habitat is coastal and a few miles inland. It is found in a variety of plant communities: Coastal Strand, Northern Coastal Scrub, Coastal Sage Scrub, Closed-cone Pine Forest, and Chaparral. D. Styer writes: "This CA endemic is common on Ft.Ord. On the north and west the flowers are generally yellow; on the south and east they are generally blue" p. 113. Conservation Status: Vulnerable (G3G4) (NatureServe).

Calflora (includes species distribution map in CA): https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=5106

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=31731

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 166-167.

Flora of Fort Ord: Monterey County, California, David Styer, 2019, p. 113.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 50.

Monterey County Wildflowers https://montereywildflowers.com/fabaceae-lupine-per/

Oregon Flora https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=6298

Leaf Shape and Arrangement diagrams: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Leaf_morphology.svg

Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary, 2nd ed., by James G. Harris and M. W. Harris, 2022.

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Lupine (genus Lupinus) are in the Pea (Fabaceae) family. They are nitrogen fixers and they help sequester carbon in the soil. "The Pea family has 5-petaled flowers, consisting of a wide upper banner petal, two wing petals, plus two lower petals which are fused to form a boat-shaped keel. Many produce heads or spikes, consisting of multiple individual flowers (examples are lupines and clovers). The seed pod is generally a “legume”; a long, flattish pod, swollen by the seeds, and splitting lengthwise along both the top and bottom.
Most lupines have distinct clusters of flowers in spikes, sometimes short, sometimes quite tall. Leaves are typically palmately compound, with leaflets ranging from very narrow to broad. It is useful to note whether the flowers are in whorls around the stem. It can also be critical to look at the keel, to see the pattern of hairs. Some are ciliate on both the top and bottom of the keel; some have hairs only near the claw (base), others only near the tip." https://montereywildflowers.com/fabaceae-lupine-per/

Pictorial Guide to Some Characteristics Needed for Lupine Identification http://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/identification.html

Key to Lupinus: Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_keys.php?key=9370

Jepson eFlora Filter Key for Lupinus in CCo (Monterey County) https://keybase.rbg.vic.gov.au/keys/show/3690?filter_id=55b17b2b4727a

INaturalist Project: Lupines of California https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lupines-of-california

Lupine I.D. Tips and Links by INat @yerbasanta :
"Reveal and photograph the keel petal (hidden within the wings) to document the hairs (if any) on the upper and lower surface along the entire length.
Keel image: https://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/pix/lupinus_formosus_g4_17_crop_70_label.jpg
Guide to documenting lupines in more detail (including calyx, banner spots, etc): https://tchester.org/plants/analysis/lupinus/identification.html#fig_1_caption