Retaining wall, Rio el Canal with Chilean firebush (left), mata negra and lupines (right), Patagonia, Chile

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Lupines are indigenous to western North America but are classified as invasive in several countries of the world. Since their introduction in the mid-1990s, invasive big leaf lupines (mash lupines, Lupinus polyphyllus) are rapidly colonizing braided river banks and gravel bars on Patagonian rivers. I saw huge numbers of the lupines blooming along the lower reaches of Rio El Canal along the Carretera Austral, Aysen, Patagonia. So while they make a beautiful display along the rivers, they are not a natural part of the habitat and can cause changes in river sediments.

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Size: 5000px × 3333px
Location: Rio el Canal, Carretera Austral. Patagonia, Chile
Photo credit: © Terry Allen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: austral, aysen, bank, big, bloom, braided, canal, carretera, channels, chile, chilean, coccineum, el, embothrium, firebush, invasive, leaf, lupines, lupinus, marsh, mata, negra, patagonia, polyphyllus, region, retaining, rio, river, species, spring, wall