Saturday, June 20, 2009

Wild lupine


WILD LUPINE (LUPINUS PERENNIS), GREEN, MICHIGAN, JUNE 20, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/180 sec. f9.5
ISO 400

To my inexpert eye (someone please correct me if I am wrong!) this three-foot-high specimen is a wild lupine, a member of the pea family and, according to the flower books, the only host plant for the Karner blue butterfly caterpillar, a threatened species in Michigan. I captured it by the creek near our neighbor's beach on Lake Superior.

1 comment:

Lorie said...

Yep, that's a wild Lupine.

The DNR on Michigan.gov states:
"Surveys completed by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory indicated that the butterflies are currently present in at least 10 Southern Michigan counties - Allegan, Ionia, Kent, Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana - though other counties still contain potential habitat."No real mention of Ontonagon Co. Hope you see one :)

I checked for WI. but most of the habitat exists in central/southern counties...darn!
~Lorie, WI.