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Home / Browse / Delphinium / Menzies' Larkspur (subsp. menziesii)
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Pictured: Delphinium menziesii — the species. This subspecies isn’t separately illustrated.
Ranunculaceae family

Menzies' Larkspur (subsp. menziesii) Delphinium menziesii subsp. menziesii subspecies

Native

Menzies' Larkspur (subsp. menziesii) is a perennial wildflower native to Canada and the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Delphinium menziesii, the Puget Sound larkspur, northern dwarf larkspur, or Menzies' larkspur, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is native to British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. A perennial reaching 75 cm (30 in), it is hummingbird pollinated. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 9 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~10 caterpillar species

Delphinium supports ~10 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a moderate genus.

Recorded feeding on Delphinium in North America, including:

Asymmetrura matutella Eurois occulta · Great Brocade Euxoa auxiliaris · Army Cutworm Moth Hedya separatana · Pink-Washed Leafroller Heliothis phloxiphaga · Darker-Spotted Straw Moth Mamestra configurata · Bertha Armyworm
+ 8 more species →
Mamestra curialis · Scripted Arches Megalographa biloba · owlet moth Papaipema cataphracta · Burdock Borer Papaipema nebris · Stalk Borer Polychrysia esmeralda · owlet moth Polychrysia moneta · Golden Plusia Polychrysia morigera · owlet moth Pyrrhia umbra · Bordered Sallow
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[10] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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