Have You Seen Any Lupines?
I know, sounds like a set-up for a Monty Python gag, but I'm serious. I am hunting the Wild Blue Lupine in the State of New Hampshire. Last week end, I didn't find any. I did find three Labrador Retrievers and their owners, some fiddlehead ferns, several Dandelions and Violets, and some other tiny wildflowers and two interesting birds that I have yet to look up. I had a great time and got a good bit of exercise. I have a theory as to why I didn't see any Lupines. According to the Connecticut Botanical Society, they like dry, open woods, and clearings, so that was where I was looking. The Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin shows them growing in full-sun prairie, and a local florist that has lived in NH for seventy-something years says they used to grow by the side of the road. Next week end, I am seeking cleared land that has gone fallow.
Why am I doing this? Because, the Wild Blue Lupine is the only food for the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly that also happens to be the State Butterfly of New Hampshire. They are bright blue, the size of a postage stamp, and only fly about 200 meters from where they hatch out. I want to see one.
posted by breakerslion @ 6:03 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
It sounds interesting. Unfortunately, I know close to nothing about flowers and butterflies. I hope you find what you're looking for.
Man, you have got the Blues!
Which was blue first the butterfly or the lupin. Is there a connection? Is that species of insect completely tabled for natural selection?
I have lupins in the backyard but unfortunatley they aren't blue da ba dee da ba da.....
The link you posted has errors and won't come up. Try this one instead:
www.nwf.org/wildlife/ karnerbluebutterfly/humaninteraction.cfm
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