Delphinium nuttallianum

Dwarf, meadow, slim, or sonne's larkspur

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Dwarf larkspur is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in open woodlands, sagebrush scrub, meadow edges, and streambanks at elevations of 300 to 3,300 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces blue to purple flowers with distinct delicate petals in small clusters of generally fewer than 12 blooms. Growing with slender stems 10 to 50 centimeters tall that are glabrous to slightly hairy, it emerges from clustered roots near the base of the plant. Its leaves are concentrated in the lower fifth of the stem, featuring 7 to 25 narrow lobes less than 7 millimeters wide, deeply divided almost to the leaf stalk. The fruit is slightly curved and measures 7 to 17 millimeters long, with smooth, shiny seeds that have an inflated collar.

Habitat: Open woodland, sagebrush scrub, meadow edges, streambanks

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 300-3300 m

Bioregions: NW, SNH, MP

California counties: Plumas, Tuolumne, Butte, Siskiyou, Alpine, Modoc, Fresno, Lassen, El Dorado, Trinity, Amador, Del Norte, Placer, Tulare, Mariposa, Sierra, Tehama, Nevada, Humboldt, Mono, Shasta, Napa, Calaveras, Mendocino, Madera, Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Inyo, Riverside

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