The name Lupine comes from lupus, Latin for "wolf", and lupinus means "wolfish". Early European observers of this wildflower found that she grew only in sandy, barren soil, and flourished where other plants did not, and mistakenly assumed she was robbing nutrients from the soil, like a wolf taking sheep from a flock. In fact though, she can thrive in these places because a bacteria in her roots can take nitrogen from the air, fix it inside of the plant, and fertilize the soil herself.