Delphinium barbeyi |
Delphinium cardinale |
|
---|---|---|
Barbey larkspur, Barbey's larkspur, subalpine larkspur, tall larkspur |
cardinal larkspur, cardinal or scarlet larkspur, scarlet larkspur |
|
Stems | 50-150 cm; base green, glabrous. |
(33-)50-150(-280) cm; base reddish, ± puberulent. |
Leaves | blade round to reniform, 4-8 × 7-15 cm, glabrous; ultimate lobes 5-9, width 8-50 mm. |
blade round to reniform, 3-7 × 5-10 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 0-27, width 5-40 mm (basal), 0.5-6 mm (cauline). |
Inflorescences | 10-50-flowered; pedicel 0.5-6 cm, glandular-puberulent; bracteoles 1-4(-8) mm from flowers, blue to green, awl-shaped, 5-14 mm, puberulent. |
10-40(-80)-flowered, open, narrowly pyramidal; pedicel spreading, (1-)2-5 cm, ± puberulent; bracteoles (2-)7-15(-25) mm from flowers, green, linear, 3-7 mm, glabrous to puberulent. |
Flowers | sepals dark bluish purple, sparsely puberulent, lateral sepals forward pointing, 13-23 × 5-8 mm, spurs ascending ca. 45°, downcurved apically, 10-18 mm; lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 4-7 mm, clefts 2-3 mm; hairs centered, mostly near base of cleft, sparse elsewhere, white or yellow. |
sepals red, glabrous, lateral sepals forward pointing, 11-15 × 5-8 mm, spurs straight, stout, slightly ascending, 15-24 mm; lower petal blades nearly coplanar with claw, exposing stamens, 2-5 mm, clefts 0.5-1.5 mm; hairs centered at base of cleft, short, sparse, yellow. |
Fruits | 17-22 mm, 2.5-3 times longer than wide, puberulent. |
erect, 9-18 mm, 2.5-4 times longer than wide, glabrous. |
Seeds | wing-margined; seed coat cells narrow but short, surfaces pustulate. |
unwinged; seed coat cells with margins undulate, surfaces roughened. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Delphinium barbeyi |
Delphinium cardinale |
|
Phenology | Flowering summer. | Flowering spring–early summer. |
Habitat | Subalpine and alpine sites in wet soils | Slopes (often unstable) in chaparral |
Elevation | 2500-4100 m (8200-13500 ft) | 50-1500 m (200-4900 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; UT; WY
|
CA; Mexico (Baja California, Baja California Sur)
|
Discussion | Delphinium barbeyi hybridizes extensively with D. glaucum in western Colorado and eastern Utah, where plants appearing to be hybrid [D. ×occidentale (S. Watson) S. Watson] are often far more common than plants of either putative parent. Several other names have been used for these plants, including D. elatum var. occidentale S. Watson, D. abietorum Tidestrom, and D. scopulorum subsp. occidentale (S. Watson) Abrams. Delphinium barbeyi is also known to hybridize with D. ramosum and D. sapellonis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Hybrids between Delphinium cardinale and D. parryi have been named D. ×inflexum Davidson. Because of horticultural interest in red-flowered delphiniums, garden hybrids have been made with D. elatum, D. hesperium, D. hutchinsoniae, D. nudicaule, D. parishii, D. penardii, D. scopulorum, D. tatsienense Franchet, D. uliginosum, and D. zalil Aitchison & Hemsley, although D. cardinale does not grow with any of these in the wild. Plants of Delphinium cardinale are quite variable in size, leaf distribution, and pubescence, resulting in considerable differences between, and sometimes within, populations. No patterns could be seen, however, to justify recognition of separate taxa within D. cardinale. Populations farther south (in Baja California, Mexico) may represent a distinct entity; they require further study. The only possible confusion between Delphinium cardinale (seeds not ringed, fruits erect, grows in relatively dry sites) and another taxon might occur with Delphinium nudicaule (seeds ringed, fruits spreading, grows in moist habitats). The two are separated geographically and phenologically (although D. cardinale may begin flowering in southern California before D. nudicaule has finished in northern California). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Exaltata | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Wislizenana |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. exaltatum var. (e) barbeyi, D. occidentale var. barbeyi | |
Name authority | (Huth) Huth: Bull. Herb. Boissier 1: 335. (1893) | Hooker: Bot. Mag., plate 4887. (1855) |
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