Delphinium Tourn. ex L.

Overview

Delphinium belongs to the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae; Kew gives its native range as the temperate and subtropical Old World and North America. The florist’s “larkspurs and delphiniums” cover both the perennial delphiniums and the annual larkspur: WCVP has merged Consolida into Delphinium, so the common annual larkspur is now Delphinium ajacis L.

The RHS describes perennial delphiniums as tall plants with vivid flower spikes in early summer, good in borders and as cut flowers. Garden groups include the Elatum Group (the tallest spikes), the Belladonna Group (loosely branched with many side spikes, particularly good for cutting) and the Pacific hybrids (similar to Elatum but smaller overall). The Elatum Group takes its name from D. elatum, which WCVP records as native from central Europe to Siberia, Mongolia and Xinjiang.

Classification and characters

Linnaeus published the genus in Species Plantarum in 1753. Flora Zambesiaca describes annual or perennial herbs with palmately divided leaves and racemes or panicles of zygomorphic flowers; the five petal-like sepals are the showiest part, the back one drawn out into a spur; there are two to five petals, the two at the back also spurred, more or less joined and fitting into the sepal spur; stamens are numerous; and one to five carpels ripen into follicles.

The plate above is from Edwards’s Botanical Register (1838), plate 38, named in the text Delphinium intermedium var. palmatifidum; WCVP places D. intermedium under D. elatum.

Distribution

WCVP records the genus as native to 154 TDWG botanical regions and introduced in 29 more.

Introduced

Aleutian Is.AzoresBangladeshCanary Is.ConnecticutDelawareDenmarkEcuadorEl SalvadorFinlandGreat BritainGuatemalaHondurasIrelandJapanMassachusettsMichiganNew JerseyNew South WalesNew YorkNew Zealand NorthNew Zealand SouthNorwayOntarioRhode I.South AustraliaSwedenVermontWestern Australia

Accepted species

WCVP accepts 546 species; names with × are natural hybrids. The count changes with revisions; checked 2026-10-24.

Historic plates

Plates in date order; the printed names are kept as they appear, current names are on the species pages and the topic page.

• 

  Delphinium intermedium var. palmatifidum

  Edwards's Botanical Register · Tab. 38 · 1838
  Sarah Anne Drake

Growing, cut-flower handling and safety

The RHS advises staking tall cultivars and sheltering them from wind; slugs and snails, which devour young growth in spring, are the main pest to control.

Floralife says cut delphiniums are normally harvested with one or two open florets at the base of the spike. Store at 1–3 °C and 75–85% relative humidity; vase life is 4–12 days. They are highly ethylene-sensitive and shatter, so make sure stems were treated with an ethylene action inhibitor, and avoid stems stored more than three days or already shedding. Vase life in foam is shorter than in a vase; re-cut and hydrate well, ideally overnight, before arranging, and separate stems carefully as the spike tips tangle.

The RHS and the ASPCA both warn that all parts are poisonous. The RHS notes that contact with the foliage may irritate skin; the ASPCA lists Delphinium as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, its diterpene alkaloids causing neuromuscular paralysis, with constipation, colic, salivation, tremors, stiffness, weakness and convulsions, and death from heart failure or respiratory paralysis in severe cases.

Further reading

• Flower guide
• Reference library

References

1. WCVP · World Checklist of Vascular Plants (via ChecklistBank dataset 2232) · accessed 2026-10-24
2. Kew (POWO data on the ColPlanta site) · Delphinium, with genus descriptions from Flora Zambesiaca and Flora of Tropical East Africa
3. RHS · How to grow perennial delphiniums
4. Floralife · Delphinium care and handling
5. ASPCA Animal Poison Control · Larkspur (Delphinium species)