Lupine 🎕 Lassen Volcanic National Park

Not only are Lupine leaves beautiful, the flowers themselves are quite exquisite. 

There are several different varieties in Lassen Volcanic National Park, but identifying each individual one can be a tedious, time-consuming and frustrating task. So, for the sake of my sanity, I'm posting a few today under the umbrella name of simply "Lupine" and we're just gonna leave it at that. Hey, maybe these are all the same species and I've been trying to narrow them down for no reason!

Shadow Lake ~ Early-September

Juniper Lake ~ Early-July

Brokeoff Mountain Trail ~ Late-August

Manzanita Creek Trail ~ Mid-July

Ridge Lakes ~ Early-August

In time, I'm sure I'll figure out how to easily differentiate between specific species, but for now I'll just enjoy their beauty and learn as I go. I learned bird species, didn't I? (Refer to my birding blog Wings and Daydreams.) At first, I'm sure I thought everything was a sparrow and then I learned to tell the difference. Time, I just need time.

Have you recently discovered how difficult it can be to identify certain wildflowers? Even the apps and websites I've found to be useful don't always narrow them down all the way, or even correctly.

Dammit, Jim! I'm a writer, not a botanist!

Heck, I just learned that I've been saying the word "lupine" incorrectly my whole life. Raise your hand if you pronounce it loo-pin instead of loo-pine and I've got a shiny gold star for ya...