Each palmate leaf is made up of 7 to 11 very narrow leaflets up to 3 centimetres long and just a few millimetres wide.

The flower is blue or purple, becoming darker with age, with a white to pink patch on its banner.

The desert lupine flower is pale blue or purple.

The upper petal (banner) has a yellow spot which changes to reddish after pollination.

Media related to Lupinus sparsiflorus at Wikimedia Commons