Flora of New Zealand Series

larkspur

Stem (15)-35-100 cm tall, single or branching above. Lvs 2-pinnatisect; basal lvs with oblong segments; cauline lvs with linear segments. Pedicels stout, downy, bearing 1-2 short bracteoles about middle. Fls usually blue, sometimes red, purple, pink or white, 2.5-3.5 cm diam. Sepal spur 14-18 mm long. Follicle pubescent, 15-20 mm long, tapered at apex. Seeds black, c. 2 mm long, with transverse membranous wavy ridges.

N.: Auckland (Devonport), Wellington (Feilding, Foxton and Hutt Valley); S.: Nelson City, Canterbury, Otago, Southland (Invercargill).

Mediterranean 1883

Riverbeds, roadsides, waste land, railyards, lucerne field.

Poisonous (Connor 1977).

The sp. has also been known in N.Z. as Delphinium ajacis and was first recorded as a sp. of Delphinium.