UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

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Delphinium xantholeucum

Delphinium ajacis

yellow-white larkspur

doubtful knight's-spur
Habit Rather stout perennial from a thick, branching, fibrous root, the single stem 3-8 dm. tall, glabrous below but glandular at least in the inflorescence. Annual herbs with slender taproots, the stems 3-8 dm. tall, glabrous to sparsely puberulent.
Leaves

Leaves few, glabrous and glaucous, mostly on the lower 1/5 of the stem;

leaf blades 2-7 cm. broad, 3-4 times dissected, the ultimate segments linear, 1-2 mm. broad.

Leaves alternate, all cauline, the lower petiolate, becoming nearly sessile upward;

leaves many, the blades orbiculate, 1-5 cm. wide, 12- to 60-lobed, the lobes under 1.5 mm. wide.
Flowers

Inflorescence compound, the main raceme as long as the rest of the stem, loosely many-flowered;

pedicels elongate, spreading;

sepals 5, creamy-white to greenish-white, green-tipped, the lateral pair oblong, about 10 mm. long;

spur 12-15 mm. long;

petals 4, small, creamy-yellow;

stamens numerous;

pistils 3.

Inflorescence a terminal, 6-30 flowered raceme, simple or with 2-3 branches; pedicles spreading, 1-3 cm. long;

sepals 3, usually blue or purple, 8-18 mm. long, with a spur 12-20 mm. long, and with short, linear bracteoles at least 4 mm. below the sepals;

petals 2, united, 2-lobed, paler and smaller than the sepals;

stamens many, the filaments with the base enlarged;

style 1.
Fruits

Follicles 15-22 mm. long, erect, glabrous to glandular-pubescent.

Follicles 12-25 mm. long, puberulent.

Delphinium xantholeucum

Delphinium ajacis
Flowering time April-June June-July
Habitat Dry, grassy hillsides and ponderosa pine forests. Drainage ditches, roadsides, old home sites, waste areas.
Distribution
Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington, where endemic to Okanogan, Chelan, and Douglas counties.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Limited in distribution to a few localities west of the Cascades in Washington; widely distributed throughout much of North America.
[WildflowerSearch map]
Origin Native Introduced
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
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. 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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Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



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