Burke: Delphinium leucophaeum vs. Delphinium trolliifolium

	Delphinium leucophaeum	Delphinium trolliifolium
	pale larkspur	cow-poison, poison larkspur
Habit		Stout perennial from short, thick rhizomes, the several erect stems 7-15 dm. tall, simple below the inflorescence, hollow, glabrous to sparsely hairy.
Leaves		Leaves numerous, evenly spaced and gradually reduced upward, the blades of the lower ones 10-20 cm. broad, tri-lobed nearly to the base, the 2 lateral lobes deeply divided into 2-3 segments, the segments broadly wedge-shaped and 2-3 times deeply toothed.
Flowers		Inflorescence elongate and loose, the raceme usually simple, pubescent with spreading, yellowish hairs, leafy-bracteate below; pedicels considerably exceeding the sepal spur, spreading; sepals 5, deep blue, oblong-lanceolate and pointed, 18-25 mm. long, the spur straight, about equal to the blade of the upper sepal; petals 4, small, the lower pair colored as the sepals, the upper pair white; stamens numerous; pistils 3.
Fruits		Follicles glabrous, about 15 mm. long.

	Delphinium leucophaeum	Delphinium trolliifolium
Flowering time	May-June	April-May
Habitat	Bluffs, open ground, and moist lowland meadows where undisturbed.	Moist, shady woods at low to middle elevations.
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 west of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; Washington south to California. [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. viridescens, D. xantholeucum
Web links	Local floras: OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Delphinium trolliifolium

pale larkspur

cow-poison, poison larkspur

Habit

Stout perennial from short, thick rhizomes, the several erect stems 7-15 dm. tall, simple below the inflorescence, hollow, glabrous to sparsely hairy.

Leaves

Leaves numerous, evenly spaced and gradually reduced upward, the blades of the lower ones 10-20 cm. broad, tri-lobed nearly to the base, the 2 lateral lobes deeply divided into 2-3 segments, the segments broadly wedge-shaped and 2-3 times deeply toothed.

Flowers

Inflorescence elongate and loose, the raceme usually simple, pubescent with spreading, yellowish hairs, leafy-bracteate below;

pedicels considerably exceeding the sepal spur, spreading;

sepals 5, deep blue, oblong-lanceolate and pointed, 18-25 mm. long, the spur straight, about equal to the blade of the upper sepal;

petals 4, small, the lower pair colored as the sepals, the upper pair white;

stamens numerous;

pistils 3.

Fruits

Follicles glabrous, about 15 mm. long.

Delphinium leucophaeum

Delphinium trolliifolium

Flowering time

May-June

April-May

Habitat

Bluffs, open ground, and moist lowland meadows where undisturbed.

Moist, shady woods at low to middle elevations.

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]