Delphinium hesperium subsp. hesperium

Western larkspur, Western Larkspur

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Western larkspur is a native perennial found in northwestern California and San Francisco Bay Area regions in oak woodlands and coastal ranges at elevations of 10 to 1,100 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces dark blue-purple flowers with spreading sepals 8 to 16 millimeters long and a distinctive curved spur 10 to 18 millimeters in length. Growing with stems that range from nearly smooth to slightly hairy at the base, it develops inflorescences with flowers typically less than 30 in number. Its lower petal blades are relatively small, measuring 5 to 8 millimeters long, with pedicels generally spaced more than 8 millimeters apart. The plant's compact growth and rich blue-purple coloration make it a distinctive feature of coastal oak woodland landscapes.

Habitat: Oak woodland, western slope coast ranges

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: 10-1100 m

Bioregions: NW, SnFrB.

California counties: Contra Costa, San Benito, Lake, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Sacramento, Butte, Tehama, Humboldt, Sonoma, Marin, Santa Clara, Mendocino, Napa, San Mateo, Monterey, Fresno

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.