Dwarf Larkspur

(Delphinium tricorne)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Dwarf Larkspur (Delphinium tricorne Michx.)

Identification: Flowers violet-blue, sometimes white, with 5 petal-like sepals, the upper sepal extended into an elongate, downward-curved flower spur. Leaves greatly divided and leaflets also strongly divided. Plant 1 to 2.5 feet in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to Pennsylvania in the east, southward to Georgia and Mississippi.

Habitat: Dwarf Larkspur is most commonly found on wooded slopes.

Flowering period: April to May

Similar Species: Tall Larkspur is most likely to be confused with Dwarf Larkspur. Dwarf Larkspur is a much smaller plant (1 to 2.5 feet in height). The flower spur of Dwarf Larkspur is curved downward, not straight, and the leaves are much more strongly divided. Tall Larkspur flowers in the summer and early fall, Dwarf Larkspur in the spring.

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