Flowers, ½ inch or more wide, are formed of 5 showy, dark blue, irregularly shaped sepals, enclosing at their base 4 much smaller petals of lighter color. The uppermost sepal extends backward as a slender spur ½ inch or more in length. About a dozen flowers on slender pedicels group around a central erect stem to form a loose raceme which often nods slightly at the top. Plant is 10 to 15 inches tall and bears rather few leaves each sub-divided into linear segments. Grows in foothills zone. Blooms late April to early June.

This small larkspur of the early spring looks much like the single larkspur of an old-fashioned garden. Its favorite location is near the base of a clump of scrub oak where a little snow has drifted in the winter giving that spot a bit of extra water. The intense blue of these flowers contrasts well with the leather brown color of last season’s oak leaves. When spring is farther advanced other taller larkspurs, such as Delphinium geyeri, called poison-weed by the stockmen, make a more spectacular showing on low foothills and plains. All of the larkspurs contain an alkaloid poison which is deadly to cattle and somewhat dangerous to other stock.