Found in sunny areas of bare sand, lupines thrive in black oak sand savannas and were very common prior to fire control. Today, homes, livestock pens, and brush are invading their last strongholds and the Memorial Day displays of this outstanding and ecologically important species are becoming a rarity.

At Big Eastern we've been attempting to preserve and enhance the native population of lupines for over ten years. We've learned that lupines can be transplanted successfully as seedlings in early spring, if the tip of the root is not damaged.

The plants shown on this page demonstrate the variation of pigment seen in wild populations of this plant, from indigo to pure white along with a few pink individuals. A large colony in bloom is an impressive and sweet smelling extravaganza. A large picture (109k) can be seen by clicking on the "more" triangle at the bottom of this page.

This roots of this species contain colonies of nitrogen fixing bacteria, enabling it to thrive in otherwise nutrient poor bare sand. In earlier days people observed lupines' tendency to colonize sterile areas and mistakenly concluded that these wildflowers had caused the nutrient depletion by "wolfing" all of the nutrients from the soil--hence the name lupine, a dervative of "lupus" which is latin for "wolf.

The federally endangered Karner Blue butterfly relies on lupinus perennis as a larval host plant, and for that reason there is considerable interest in reestablishing colonies lupine. Trying to move an adult plant is pure folly, but colonies are easy to start from seed, assuming the location is sandy and sunny, with little competition from weeds. The seedlings develop a tap root quickly, but can benefit from watering while they are getting established.