Found in barren sandy fields, in June.

The tough, woody-fibred, round stalk is about 1 or 2 feet high, erect and leafy, with a rough, hairy surface. The color is light green, with a considerable showing of red.

The leaf is divided into 5 to 15 long narrow leaflets which radiate from a common center (“palmate”), each showing a strong midrib, with an entire margin; the texture is thin, and fine, and pleasing to the touch; the color is a soft green, paler underneath, showing a hint of red at the edge, the tip, and again at the stem. The leaves are set on stems, and arranged in little groups alternately.

The flower has 5 petals: the upper is broad, erect, and much folded back; the side petals are closed about the lower petal, which is not observable until the blossom is ready to fall, when it pushes itself, and the stamens, forward. The upright petal is a deep beautiful red-purple or dark violet, the side petals are violet, lined with blue, the lower petal is tipped with purple; the calyx is 2-parted and green. The flowers, set on short red-purple stems, are arranged loosely in a long terminal spike. The blossom is odorous.

In bud scarcely a trace of the purple tint shows, petals and calyx being pink and greenish-white,—even when the upright petal first turns back, only a few dainty flecks of dark color may be discerned; with maturity the purple and blue increase in depth. The blossoms at the base of the spike begin to open earliest. Not the least of the Lupine’s attractions is the graceful curve of the stalk,—rarely is the flower-spike stiffly erect. It is a communistic plant, spreading all over a sand plain and making it a field of blue in blossom time, the roots buried firmly and to a surprising depth in the loose soil.