Delphinium carolinianum (Carolina larkspur)

Plants: Up to 3′ (1 m) in height, with a single straight stem that is sometimes hairy.

Leaves: Somewhat palmlike in shape, much divided, about 3½″ (9 cm) around. Leaflets may be very narrow and grasslike, or wider.

Flowers: Flower clusters up to 12″ (30 cm) long form at the top, white to pale or bright blue. Each flower is on a small stalk ½″ (1.5 cm) long, and has five petals and a long spur behind it. There is a fuzzy area in the center. Flowers are ⅜–¾″ (1–2 cm) around, and the spur is about the same length as the flower diameter. They appear between May and June.

Habitats: Limestone glades, prairies, and rocky woods, roadsides, railroads in prairies.

6/18/2005 · By Clarence A. Rechenthin. Courtesy of USDA NRCS Texas State Office

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin)
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Magnoliidae	Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
Order	Ranunculales	Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots”
Family	Ranunculaceae	Buttercup family
Genus	Delphinium	From Greek delphinion, “larkspur”; the name is derived from the Greek for “dolphin” because of the shape of some flowers
Species	carolinianum	Of or from Carolina

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