[1] The plant sends up thin and long 1–2 feet (0.30–0.61 m) stems with finely dissected leaves.

[1] It bears attractive larkspur flowers in shades of red and orange that are generally pollinated by hummingbirds.

[2] The root of Delphinium nudicaule has been historically used as a medicinal narcotic, chiefly by the Mendocino Native Americans of the Yuki tribe.

[3][4] The first phytochemical study of this plant was carried out by Michael Benn and Palaniappan Kulanthaivel at the University of Calgary in Canada.

[5] These researchers reported the presence of a number of diterpenoid alkaloids: hetisine, 2-dehydrohetisine, 6-deoxydelcorine, dictyocarpine, dihydrogadesine, methyllycaconitine, lycoctonine, takaosamine, nudicaulamine, nudicauline, and nudicaulidine.