Delphinium exaltatum |
Delphinium patens |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
tall larkspur |
spreading larkspur, spreading or zigzag larkspur, zigzag larkspur |
|||||||||
Stems | 70-200 cm; base reddish, nearly glabrous. |
(10-)20-50(-90) cm; base reddish, glabrous to puberulent. |
||||||||
Leaves | blade pentagonal, 2-7 × 3-9 cm, puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-7, width 5-25 mm; midcauline leaf lobes less than 3 times longer than wide. |
blade round to pentagonal, 1-5.5 × 2-7.5 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-9, less often wedge-shaped, 5 or more extending more than 3/5 distance to petiole, width 5-30(-50) mm (basal), 1-15 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2. |
||||||||
Inflorescences | 8-30-flowered; pedicel 0.5-2 cm, puberulent; bracteoles 2-4 mm from flowers, green, linear, 2-4 mm, puberulent. |
4-25(-36)-flowered; pedicel spreading from rachis at usually less than 70°, 1-4(-8) cm, glabrous to glandular; bracteoles 3-12(-23) mm from flowers, blue to green, linear, 3-8(-16) mm, glabrous to glandular. |
||||||||
Flowers | sepals whitish to pale lavender or purple, puberulent, lateral sepals forward pointing, 9-11 × 4-6 mm, spurs straight, as much as 45° above or below horizontal, 9-12 mm; lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 1-2 mm; hairs centered, mostly near base of cleft, white. |
sepals dark blue, usually retaining color upon drying, glabrous, lateral sepals reflexed, (6-)10-15(-20) × 4-8 mm, spurs straight, ascending ca. 30° above horizontal, 8-18 mm; lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, 3-6(-8) mm, clefts 1-3 mm; hairs centered on base of cleft or on inner lobes, scattered, white, rarely yellow. |
||||||||
Fruits | 7-12 mm, 2-2.5 times longer than wide, ± puberulent. |
12-23 mm, 3.3-3.6 times longer than wide, glabrous or puberulent. |
||||||||
Seeds | ± wing-margined; seed coat cells elongate, surfaces smooth. |
unwinged; seed coats ± pitted, cell surfaces roughened. |
||||||||
Delphinium exaltatum |
Delphinium patens |
|||||||||
Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||||||
Habitat | Rocky slopes in open deciduous woods and barrens, mainly on calcareous substrates, also shale and mafic and ultramafic rocks | |||||||||
Elevation | 150-2000 m (500-6600 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
AL; KY; MD; MO; NC; OH; PA; TN; VA; WV
|
CA
|
||||||||
Discussion | Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
|||||||||
Key |
|
|||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Exaltata | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Name authority | Aiton: Hort. Kew. 2: 244. (1789) | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 296. (1849) | ||||||||
Web links |