Delphinium

Delphinium is a genus in the Ranunculaceae family found in America, Asia, Europe, and even Africa. Many of the species grow from woody rootstocks or clusters of tubers and die back part of the year. These species are the ones that we will include on this wiki page. Some may argue that they are not really geophytes. They are of varying height and color with blues and purples being the most common. Snails and slugs love this genus. This genus is notoriously difficult to key out so pictures of leaves and flowers are important to have. Pictures and information about the species pictured on the wiki can be found by clicking on the species pages or the individual species link from the table below.

Seeds of Delphinium are known to have short viability. However, Mary Sue Ittner who grows many species in coastal central California suggests that California species may not follow the same pattern and have longer viability than reported based on personal observations. Seeds of winter growing species should be sown in the fall, watered and allowed to grow throughout the rainy winter so that the seedlings will have formed a large enough rootstock before they go dormant in the summer. As with other geophytes, they like a well-drained mix. Allow adult plants to go into dormancy normally. Small species can be grown in a one gallon pot, but larger species such as D. cardinale require larger root room.


Information on named species can be found on the wiki pages below:

or by clicking on the name of the species in the table.


Delphinium species
Delphinium bakeri, Tilden Botanic Garden, Nhu Nguyen [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium bakeri
Delphinium cardinale, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium cardinale
Delphinium decorum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium decorum
Delphinium hansenii ssp hansenii, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium hansenii
Delphinium hesperium ssp. hesperium in the wild, Bob Rutemoeller [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium hesperium
Delphinium nudicaule x luteum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium hybrid
Delphinium luteum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium luteum
Delphinium nudicaule, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium nudicaule
Delphinium parryi, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium parryi
Delphinium patens ssp. hepaticoideum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium patens
Delphinium purpusii flowers, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium purpusii
Delphinium recurvatum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium recurvatum
Delphinium sp., from Oregon coast, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium sp.
Delphinium tricorne, John Lonsdale [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium tricorne
Delphinium variegatum, Mary Sue Ittner [Shift+click to enlarge, Click to go to wiki entry]
Delphinium variegatum

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Page last modified on October 29, 2023, at 09:25 AM
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