Flora of North America species comparison

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Delphinium sapellonis

Flathead larkspur, little larkspur, low larkspur, Montana larkspur

Sapello Canyon larkspur

Stems

10-40(-70) cm;

base often reddish, glabrous to puberulent.

(50-)100-180(-220) cm;

base sometimes reddish, glabrous sometimes glaucous.

Leaves

blade round, 1-4 × 1.5-7 cm, glabrous to puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-19, width 1-8 mm (basal), 1-3 mm (cauline).

blade round to pentagonal, 6-10 × 8-16 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 5-15, width 5-25 mm.

Inflorescences

3-12(-22)-flowered;

pedicel 1-4(-8) cm, ± puberulent;

bracteoles 2-7(-17) mm from flowers, green, sometimes white-margined, lanceolate, 4-6(-8) mm, puberulent.

(12-)30-80(-120)-flowered;

pedicel 0.5-2 cm, glandular-puberulent;

bracteoles 3-5 mm from flowers, green to purple, linear, 5-8 mm, glandular-puberulent.

Flowers

sepals dark blue, puberulent, lateral sepals usually spreading, 16-21 × 6-12 mm, spurs straight to gently decurved, ascending 0-40° above horizontal, 13-23 mm;

lower petal blades covering stamens, 7-12 mm, clefts 0.1-3 mm;

hairs sparse, short, mostly on inner lobes below junction of blade and claw, white or yellow.

sepals (in bud) yellowish or brownish purple, becoming browner or yellower with age, glandular-puberulent, lateral sepals forward pointing, 8-12 × 3-5 mm, spurs straight, ascending 20-45° above horizontal, 8-11 mm;

lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 2.5-5 mm, clefts 1-2 mm;

hairs centered, mostly above base of cleft, yellow.

Fruits

(12-)16-22 mm, 4-4.5 times longer than wide, usually puberulent.

12-18 mm, 3-4 times longer than wide, puberulent.

Seeds

often winged;

seed coat cells with surfaces ± smooth.

wing-margined;

seed coat cells elongate, surfaces smooth.

Delphinium bicolor

Delphinium sapellonis

Phenology

Flowering summer.

Habitat

Subalpine meadows and open coniferous forest

Elevation

2600-3500 m (8500-11500 ft)

Distribution

ID; MT; ND; NE; SD; WY; AB; BC; SK

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Delphinium bicolor is closely related to D. glareosum; it differs in its wider-lobed cauline leaves, shallower petal clefts, and narrower fruits.

The Gosiute consider this plant to be poisonous (D. E. Moerman 1986, subspecies not specified).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Delphinium sapellonis hybridizes with D. barbeyi and D. robustum. It replaces D. robustum and represents the southern Cordilleran complex at higher elevations of the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains east of Santa Fe. It is not known elsewhere.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key

1. Sepals (especially in fresh material) dark blue to purple; cleft in lower petals 2 mm or less; soils not derived from limestone.	subsp. bicolor
1. Sepals (especially in fresh material) bright dark blue; cleft in lower petals at least 2 mm; soils derived from limestone.	subsp. calcicola

Source

FNA vol. 3.

Parent taxa

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Bicoloria

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Exaltata

Sibling taxa

D. alabamicum, D. alpestre, D. andersonii, D. andesicola, D. antoninum, D. bakeri, D. barbeyi, D. basalticum, D. brachycentrum, D. californicum, D. cardinale, D. carolinianum, D. decorum, D. depauperatum, D. distichum, D. elatum, D. exaltatum, D. geraniifolium, D. geyeri, D. glareosum, D. glaucescens, D. glaucum, D. gracilentum, D. gypsophilum, D. hansenii, D. hesperium, D. hutchinsoniae, D. inopinum, D. lineapetalum, D. luteum, D. madrense, D. menziesii, D. multiplex, D. newtonianum, D. novomexicanum, D. nudicaule, D. nuttallianum, D. nuttallii, D. parishii, D. parryi, D. patens, D. polycladon, D. purpusii, D. ramosum, D. recurvatum, D. robustum, D. sapellonis, D. scaposum, D. scopulorum, D. stachydeum, D. sutherlandii, D. treleasei, D. tricorne, D. trolliifolium, D. uliginosum, D. umbraculorum, D. variegatum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii, D. xantholeucum

D. alabamicum, D. alpestre, D. andersonii, D. andesicola, D. antoninum, D. bakeri, D. barbeyi, D. basalticum, D. bicolor, D. brachycentrum, D. californicum, D. cardinale, D. carolinianum, D. decorum, D. depauperatum, D. distichum, D. elatum, D. exaltatum, D. geraniifolium, D. geyeri, D. glareosum, D. glaucescens, D. glaucum, D. gracilentum, D. gypsophilum, D. hansenii, D. hesperium, D. hutchinsoniae, D. inopinum, D. lineapetalum, D. luteum, D. madrense, D. menziesii, D. multiplex, D. newtonianum, D. novomexicanum, D. nudicaule, D. nuttallianum, D. nuttallii, D. parishii, D. parryi, D. patens, D. polycladon, D. purpusii, D. ramosum, D. recurvatum, D. robustum, D. scaposum, D. scopulorum, D. stachydeum, D. sutherlandii, D. treleasei, D. tricorne, D. trolliifolium, D. uliginosum, D. umbraculorum, D. variegatum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii, D. xantholeucum

Subordinate taxa

D. bicolor subsp. bicolor, D. bicolor subsp. calcicola

Name authority

Nuttall: J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 7: 10. (1834)

Tidestrom: Bot. Gaz. 34: 453. (1902)

Web links

Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

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