Northern lupines

Near the north end of the island, the lupines are just going to seed. Down here in Campbell River, the pods are black and hard, and mostly empty already.

This is probably the Arctic Lupine, Lupinus arcticus*.

The green pods look like woolly caterpillars up close:

Very fuzzy!

A few plants still are producing flowers.

* Nootka lupines** grow this far south (but not as far down as Campbell River), but the stalks are taller, up to about 1 m. tall. These were under two feet tall.

** Bears like to eat the roots of Nootka lupines. So do some of the First Nations people; the Nuxalk roast them or steam them in pits.