Delphinium variegatum

Royal larkspur, Royal Larkspur

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Royal larkspur is a California native perennial found in the central and northern coastal ranges, Sierra Nevada foothills, and Cascade Range in grasslands and open woodlands at elevations of 500 to 2,000 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces blue to purple flowers with distinctive, complex petal structures that create an intricate, delicate bloom. Growing with slender stems less than 50 centimeters tall and notably hairy at the base, it develops a compact, upright form. Its leaves are concentrated on the lower third of the stem, featuring 3 to 15 overlapping lobes with hairy petioles, creating a dense, intricate foliage pattern. The distinctive flower spur ranges from 10 to 19 millimeters long, typically straight or slightly curved at the tip, with lower petals exhibiting varying degrees of inner and marginal hairiness.

California counties: Butte, Colusa, Sonoma, Tulare, Tehama, Merced, Amador, Calaveras, Monterey, Lake, Contra Costa, El Dorado, San Luis Obispo, Napa, Sacramento, Madera, Mariposa, San Mateo, San Joaquin, Fresno, Mendocino, Placer, Santa Clara, Tuolumne, Solano, Alameda, Kern, San Benito, Nevada, Yuba, Sutter, Plumas, Stanislaus, Shasta, Glenn, Marin, Los Angeles, Yolo, San Francisco

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