Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) is a late Spring wildflower of open prairies and meadows. The spire of purple flowers on a single plant is beautiful and a field of lupines is impressive. This wildflower grows throughout the eastern US and but is rare in some parts of its range. Wild Lupines are a critical food source for the endangered Karner Blue butterfly.
Lupines, like other prairie plants, need full sun to survive. Historically, wildfires kept fields open. Today, preserves often use controlled burns to limit the incursion of brush and trees.
Wild Lupines, near Kalamazoo, are currently at peak blossom. Yesterday, we visited the Maas Preserve on the White Pine Trail just north of Rockford and it was full of lupines.
I teach economics at Kalamazoo College. My wife is also an economist. We were on sabbatical in Europe for the 2014-15 academic year. (Salamanca, Spain, followed by Oxford, UK.) We were in Uruguay for the 2006-7 academic year.