General:
Perennial herb from tuberous roots; stems slender, erect, simple or branched above, 35-70 cm tall, minutely-hairy, sometimes glandular, bases often reddish.

Leaves:
At time of flowering the basal leaves none to 4 and stem leaves 3 to 7, alternate, stalks 0.5-11 cm long, blades round, 1.5-5 cm long, 3-9 cm wide, reduced upward, palmately divided, the leaflets incised into narrowly oblong to linear segments, the ultimate segments 5 to 18 and 2-15 mm wide on basal leaves, 1-10 mm wide on stem leaves, entire, minutely-hairy.

Flowers:
Inflorescence a 3- to 15-flowered, terminal raceme, the flowers bilaterally symmetric; bracts linear, green to bluish, 4-6 mm long, minutely-hairy; flower stalks ascending, 1.5-4 cm long, minutely-hairy, sometimes glandular; petals 4, the upper 2 united, pale blue to white, spurred, enclosed in upper sepal, nectary inside spur, the lower petals 2, blue, mostly covering stamens, clawed, 8-12 mm long, shallowly notched at tip, the hairs white or blue, sparse, mostly near junction of blade and claw; sepals 5, blue to purple, minutely-hairy, the lateral two spreading, 13-20 mm long, 5-11mm wide, the lower two similar to lateral, the upper one spurred, the spur straight, 11-17 mm long; pistils 3.

Fruits:
Follicles, 11-17 mm long, 3.5- to 4-times longer than wide, minutely-hairy; seeds obpyramidal, winged, smooth.

Notes:
Toxic; known to cause livestock poisoning.

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.

Illustration Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Delphinium menziesii subsp. pyramidale Ewan
Delphinium menziesii var. pyramidale (Ewan) C.L. Hitchc.