Burke: Delphinium xantholeucum vs. Delphinium trolliifolium

	Delphinium xantholeucum	Delphinium trolliifolium
	yellow-white larkspur	cow-poison, poison larkspur
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.	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 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 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 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 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 15-22 mm. long, erect, glabrous to glandular-pubescent.	Follicles glabrous, about 15 mm. long.

	Delphinium xantholeucum	Delphinium trolliifolium
Flowering time	April-June	April-May
Habitat	Dry, grassy hillsides and ponderosa pine forests.	Moist, shady woods at low to middle elevations.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington, where endemic to Okanogan, Chelan, and Douglas counties. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county 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	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. 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: 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

yellow-white larkspur

cow-poison, poison larkspur

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.

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 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 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 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 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;