It is a larkspur, perhaps Trelease's Larkspur. These are in the genus Delphinium. I know there are a few natives, and several others that are used ornamentally. Not sure if it is annual (reseeding) or perennial. It certainly is the bluest of any or our wildflowers.

thanks paul did you look at the other 2 pics?

this is a very pretty blue!

william

Hello William. The other 2 are both beard-tongues or Penstemon. Purple beard-tongue is Penstemon cobea, and the white seems to be Arkansas beard-tongue or P. arkansanus. I don't know if I've ever seen the purple one. At first it appeared to be a foxglove. Notice how the leaves "hug" the stems.

If you're ever in the market for a good book on this subject, "Wildflowers of Arkansas" by the recently departed Carl Hunter is an excellent choice. He has really nice photos and the plants are grouped taxonomically with brief descriptions of the plants and locations within the state where they are found. Of course, this book would work well for our neighbors in southern Missouri as I doubt that there are many common wildflowers that grow in the Missouri Ozarks and not the Arkansas Ozarks. He also has an excellent book "Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of Arkansas", and a small book on autumn trees. These can be found on Amazon.com. These books are usually the first ones I grab when trying to figure out the easier plants. If I get "stumped" then I turn to other sources such as Steyermark's "Flora of Missouri" which has recently been redone into 2 volumes. The University of Arkansas is currently working on the exhaustive "Flora of Arkansas" and should be out in the next few years. I can't wait! You know, for such a small state, we have an amazingly diverse flora. We have 2 mountain ranges with a big river valley in between, a big patch of delta, coastal plains, and Crowley's Ridge. All of these areas have their own characteristics. Many plants are only found in the Ouachitas, and many others are only found on Mt. Magazine.

paul- thanks so much for your help. will look for the books. some of these things drive me crazy!

william- in yellville

WOW, William! You sure have some pretty wildflowers growing on your place...

This is a website I often use to identify plants of the Ozarks. It doesn't have all of them, but can usually find the Genus and similar species.
According to information in the preamble on the site, 2 volumes of the updated Steyermark book is available now, and a third volume is in the works.
There is a listing of all of the known flora of Ark. on a Texas A & M website, with county by county breakdown. Here is the link, if it might be useful.
Arkansas Flora
Good hunting!
Rb

Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Plants

Someone always has great info here when you ask a question. I did'nt know about the A&M site.Glad to get it.

My nephew contributed to the upcoming site for Arkansas for his degree.

Spider Worts are blooming everywhere here. it's always amazing when the next generation changes colors, from blue to white or pink. I read that if one plant changes from blue flowers to pink flowers it is a sign of radio active contamination.