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Delphinium leucophaeum

pale larkspur

Habit Pubescent perennial from fleshy roots, the stems 1.5-4 dm. tall, usually single and simple.
Leaves

Leaves few, long-petiolate, mostly basal, the blades 2-6 cm. broad, 2-4 times parted or lobed into linear or oblong-lanceolate segments 1.5-5 mm. broad;

cauline leaves much reduced upward.

Flowers

Inflorescence simple or compound, the racemes 3-15 flowered; the lower pedicels several times as long as the flowers, spreading or ascending;

sepals 5, deep purplish-blue, widely spreading, 17-25 mm. long, the lower pair the largest; the spur 13-20 mm. long, from about as long to twice as long as the top sepal;

petals 4, small, the lower pair sometimes brownish or yellow-purplish, or all deep purplish-blue, the blade 3-4 mm. long, deeply bi-lobed;

stamens numerous;

pistils 3.

Fruits

Follicles 15-22 mm. long, somewhat spreading.

Comments

Specimen records from west of the Cascade Mountains need to be re-examined.

Delphinium leucophaeum

Delphinium bicolor

Flowering time May-June March-August
Habitat Bluffs, open ground, and moist lowland meadows where undisturbed. Dry, gravelly ground, sagebrush deserts to the ponderosa pine region in the mountains.
Distribution
Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington, where known only from Lewis County in Washington; Lewis County, Washington to Willamette Valley, Oregon.
[WildflowerSearch map]
Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native Native
Conservation status Endangered in Washington (WANHP) Not of concern
Sibling taxa
D. ajacis, D. basalticum, D. ×burkei, D. depauperatum, D. distichum, D. glareosum, D. glaucum, D. lineapetalum, D. menziesii, D. multiplex, D. nuttallianum, D. nuttallii, D. occidentale, D. stachydeum, D. sutherlandii, D. trolliifolium, D. viridescens, D. xantholeucum
D. ajacis, D. basalticum, D. ×burkei, D. depauperatum, D. distichum, D. glareosum, D. glaucum, D. leucophaeum, D. lineapetalum, D. menziesii, D. multiplex, D. nuttallianum, D. nuttallii, D. occidentale, D. stachydeum, D. sutherlandii, D. trolliifolium, D. viridescens, D. xantholeucum
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