Spikes of unusual, showy flowers decorate the erect leafy, hairy stems of this 1–6-foot tall plant with tuberous roots. Note the high, arching hood-like upper petal-like sepal, and the large leaves with deeply cut lobes that radiate from a central point (palmate); all parts are toxic.

FLOWERS: June–September. Spike-like cluster of blue, sometimes whitish, bilaterally symmetrical flowers, 3/4–2 inches (18–50 mm) long from top of hood to tips of lower sepals; 5 hairy, petal-like sepals with 1 upper hood, 2 rounded side sepals, 2 narrow lower sepals. The hood contains the 2 small, spurred petals with the nectaries that attract long-tongued bumblebees for pollination.

LEAVES: Alternate, becoming stemless (sessile) upward. Blade 1–6 3/4 inches long (2.5–17 cm ), 2–5 1/2 inches wide (5–14 cm), palmately divided (palm/finger-shaped) into 3–5 lobes with variable-sized teeth; blades become gradually smaller upward.

HABITAT: Moist sandy, rocky soils, wet areas, stream sides, meadows; coniferous forests.

ELEVATION: 5,900–12,000 feet.

RANGE: Rocky Mts. and westward.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Two subspecies and several regional populations that vary from 3 to 9 feet tall. NM has Aconitum columbianum ssp. columbianum. Larkspurs, Delphinium species, have similar leaves but flowers with backward pointing spurs.

NM COUNTIES: Common in NM mountains in mid- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Colfax, Eddy, Grant, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Otero, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos..