Delphinium carolinianum
Delphinium sect. Diedropetala
Carolina larkspur
2-80 cm, tuberlike or fibrous, dry or fleshy;
buds often less than 3 mm.
(20-)40-90(-150) cm;
base reddish or not, ± pubescent.
1-8(-19) per root;
base firmly attached to root or not.
blade round to pentagonal, 1-8 × 2-12 cm, pubescence variable; ultimate lobes 3-29, width 2-10 mm (basal), 1-7 mm (cauline).
cauline and/or in basal rosette, gradually or abruptly reduced into bracts.
(3-)8-27(-94)-flowered;
pedicel (0.4-)0.7-1.8(-5.7) cm, nearly glabrous to glandular;
bracteoles 1-3.5(-6) mm from flowers, green or blue, linear, 2-7 mm, pubescence nearly glabrous to glandular.
sepals purple to blue to white, nearly glabrous, lateral sepals spreading, (7-)9-14(-17) × (3-)3.5-6(-8) mm, spurs ± upcurved, ascending 20-90° above vertical, (9-)11-17(-19) mm;
lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 5-7 mm, cleft 2-4 mm;
hairs centered, densest near base of cleft, white, sometimes blue or yellow.
sepals blue, purple, white, red, or yellow;
lower petal blades often same color as lateral sepals, usually greater than 1/5 length of lateral sepals (exceptions in red- and yellow-flowered species).
(10-)12.5-18.5(-27) mm, 4-4.5 times longer than wide, glabrous to puberulent.
seed coat cells with surfaces pustulate or smooth.
Delphinium carolinianum
Delphinium sect. Diedropetala
Subspecies 4 (4 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Basal leaves absent at anthesis, cauline leaves divided into many narrow (less than 2 mm wide) segments, blade not distinctly 3-parted; distalmost petiole less than 5 mm; sepals usually blue or purple (rarely white). | subsp. carolinianum |
1. Basal leaves usually present at anthesis, and/or cauline leaf lobes usually wider than 2 mm, blade often distinctly 3-parted or more; distalmost petiole more than 5 mm; sepals blue or white. | → 2 |
2. Leaf blade distinctly 3-parted with few additional divisions; sepals blue to white; roots usually ± vertical, often without major branches. | subsp. vimineum |
2. Leaf blade with 3–5 or more major divisions, each further divided into segments; sepals white to very pale blue; roots ±horizontal with several major branches. | → 3 |
3. Stems usually less than 45 cm; in thin soils over limestone in clearings of deciduous woods; leaf blade with 3 major divisions; e of Mississippi River. | subsp. calciphilum |
3. Stems usually more than 45 cm; in deeper soils in grasslands; leaf blade with 5 or more major divisions; w of Mississippi River. | subsp. virescens |
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MN Wildflowers
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
