Photos

This Larkspur photo was taken on the same ridge as the previous photos I've posted, the Paradise Ridge, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, near where I live.

Photo: Levels, Resized, Sharpened.

Upland Larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum)

Upland larkspur is an attractive perennial wildflower which usually is seen with one stem covered with variable herbage (varying from smooth surfaced to glandular or covered with soft, spreading hairs). The stem is not hollow and it varies in height from 15-40 cm. The leaves are mostly basal or found low on the stems. The petioles are longer than the diameter of the blades and individual leaf blades are 2-4 times parted or lobed into linear or oblong-lanceolate segments from 1.5-5 mm wide. The blades of the basal leaves measure from 2-6 cm wide. The upper leaves are smaller and have fewer leaf segments.

Upland larkspur may be found on well drained, gravelly soils in dry grasslands, among sagebrush, and in open ponderosa pine forests.

Upland larkspur is found from southwest British Columbia south along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mts. to northern California, and eastward to Alberta, and south to Arizona. It is one of the more common larkspurs across the inland Pacific Northwest.
In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found between the elevations of 100'-4200' from Stevenson,WA east to Biggs, OR.