Dwarf larkspur

Delphinium tricorne, the dwarf larkspur, is a low-growing spring-flowering perennial of the buttercup family native to deciduous woodlands of the eastern United States, from Pennsylvania and New York west to Nebraska and south to Georgia and Oklahoma. It arises from a small cluster of tuberous roots, producing one or a few erect, mostly unbranched stems 20-45 cm tall. The few cauline leaves are palmately divided into five to seven narrow, sharply pointed lobes. From April to May the upper portion of the stem bears an open raceme of a few large, showy flowers; each flower is 2-3 cm long, deep violet-blue, pale blue, lavender or occasionally white, with five sepals, the uppermost extended backward into a long, straight spur, and four smaller petals. The fruit consists of three diverging follicles, the basis for the species epithet tricorne. After flowering the plant goes dormant and disappears by midsummer.