Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Delphinium californicum is a species of larkspur known as California larkspur. This wildflower is endemic to California, where it is a resident of the chaparral slopes of the San Francisco Bay Area and Central Coast. It has a long root from which it erects tall stems usually exceeding a meter in height and often approaching two meters. The leaves arise on long petioles and are each divided into as many as 15 fingerlike pointed lobes. The top of the stem is occupied with a very large flower cluster usually containing over 50 flowers. Each flower rises on a pedicel several centimeters long. The sepals point forward to make a cup out of the mouth of the somewhat tubular flower. The longest sepals are about a centimeter long and the spur of the flower may approach two centimeters in length. The flower is generally white to greenish white to light lavender.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

2 - 7 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Cream, Lavender

Flowering season

Spring

Special uses

Deer resistant

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Ease of care

Moderate

Plant communities

Foothill Woodland, Mixed Evergreen Forest

Hummingbirds
Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 3 likely

Confirmed Likely

Verbena Bud Moth

Endothenia hebesana

Spotted Straw Sun Moth

Heliothis phloxiphaga

Bilobed Looper Moth

Megalographa biloba