Delphinium L.

	Delphinium hybrid 'Pacific Giant' (Elatum group) Photo: © California Cut Flower Commission

larkspur; Consolida (larkspur) is sometimes included in the genus Delphinium in the trade but it is considered a separate genus botanically.

Hybrids (mostly based on Delphinium elatum L. and D. grandiflorum L., and others termed D. xcultorum Voss., and D. xbelladonna hort. ex Bergmans) predominate, most of which are in the Elatum and Belladonna groups, each of which includes many cultivars in several series.

Other species

D. cardinale Hook.

D. nudicaule Torr. & A. Gray

D. semibarbatum Bien. ex Boiss

D. yunnanense (Franch.) Franch.

Mountainous areas worldwide except Australia.

Leaves shallowly to deeply palmately lobed or dissected, with each lobe toothed or further dissected, rarely compound; spikelike racemes of spurred, zygomorphic flowers; petaloid calyx of 5 sepals ca. 1-2.5 cm long, one of which is elongated into a spur ca. 1-2 cm long; corolla small, forming the central "bee", of 4 petals in 2 unequal pairs, upper pair extending into spurs that project into sepal spur, lower pair sometimes bearded; stamens many.

Elatum group inflorescences are dense, tall racemes of generally double flowers; Belladonna group racemes are looser and branched, with single to semi-double flowers; doubles have more than the usual number of sepals rather than petals; flowers mostly blue to purple, also white and other colors; central corolla is often a contrasting color; leaves vary as to degree of dissection, with lobes broad to narrow.

Consolida

Consolida differs from Delphinium in having leaves palmately highly dissected into narrow, filiform segments, and flowers with 2 upper petals united into 1, and 2 lower petals absent.

Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe.