Delphinium bicolor (Low Larkspur) - photos and description

 

 


Two plants in above photo.

 


15 cm ruler for scale.


Basal leaf in above photo.


Stem leaf in above photo.

Origin: Native.

General: Low perennials, with an erect, few-branched growth habit. Plants are pubescent.

Flowers: Racemes of striking, long-spurred, purple-blue flowers. Flowers measured at 3.5 cm diameter. Early flowering, with flowers appearing in early May.

Leaves: Stem leaves alternate. Leaves reniform to orbicular, deeply cleft into linear segments, we measured leaf segments to 4 mm wide. Stem leaves measured at 6.5 cm diameter.

Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 50 cm, we've measured plants to 27 cm tall.

Habitat: Moist meadows on hillsides, and openings in woodlands, southwest Saskatchewan.

Abundance:  Rare, ranked as an S3 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre. Provincially rare, but common in the Cypress Hills.

When and where photographed: Photos taken May 11th and May 17th on a stony slope in the Cypress Hills, and May 19th, prairie hillside, Cypress Hills, 450 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.