WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Stems 27–40 inches tall have dense clusters of bright blue flowers with distinct spurs. Note the stem has a covering or fine hairs, leaves on entire stem at flowering, and the seed capsules are in a tight, erect (not spreading) cluster.

FLOWER: June–September. Spike-like clusters (racemes) have 15–40 flowers with tiny bracteoles below each flower. Flowers have 5 bright blue, hairy, petal-like sepals, 1 upper over the smaller petals, 2 lateral spreading sideways, 2 lower spreading downward; upper 2 petals blue and white; lower 2 petals blue, covered with curly, white hairs; spur straight, angled upward about 30 degrees; stamens partially exposed. The fruit cluster is tight, erect, not spreading.

LEAVES: Basal absent. Alternate stem leaves, present on full length of stem at flowering. Blades rounded in outline reaching 3-inches wide (8 cm) by 5 1/2-inches long (14 cm), with 5–21 narrow, deeply cut lobes.

HABITAT: Sandy, loamy moist soils, chaparral, meadows, forests; ponderosa pine-Douglas fir, spruce-aspen, alpine meadows.

ELEVATION: 6,500–11,200 feet.

RANGE: CO, NM, WY.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Two other tall delphiniums with blue flowers in the northern mountains (see photos): Subalpine Larkspur, D. barbeyi, has leaves with broad lobes. Robust Larkspur, D. robustum , has pale-purple-whitish flowers.  Dwarf Larkspur, D. nuttallianum, is usually under 16 inches tall, and has tiny white petals marked with blue lines.

NM COUNTIES: Northern NM mountains in mid- to high-elevation, moist habitats: Colfax, Mora, Rio Arriba, Taos, Union.