FNA: Delphinium leucophaeum vs. Delphinium basalticum

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum (synonym of Delphinium leucophaeum)	Delphinium basalticum
	pale larkspur, white rock larkspur	basalt larkspur, basaltic larkspur, Columbia Gorge larkspur
Stems	30-60 cm.	20-50(-65) cm; base often reddish, puberulent.
Leaves		blade round, 2-6 × 5-9 cm, not succulent, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 5-19, width 3-15 mm (basal), 1-12 mm (cauline).
Inflorescences		(2-)6-16(-26)-flowered; pedicel 2-7 cm, nearly glabrous; bracteoles 4-12 mm from flowers, green, linear, 3-7 mm, nearly glabrous.
Flowers	sepals white or light yellow, spurs 9-11 mm; lower petal blades 4-6 mm.	sepals dark blue, nearly glabrous, lateral sepals spreading, 15-21 × 7-10 mm, spur straight to decurved, ascending 30-45° above horizontal, 14-18 mm; lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 7-9 mm, cleft 4-5 mm; hairs centered, mostly on inner lobes above base of cleft, yellow to white.
Fruits		12-17 mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, glabrous.
Seeds		± wing-margined; seed coat cells with surfaces smooth.
2n	= 16.

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum	Delphinium basalticum
Phenology	Flowering late spring.	Flowering spring (-early summer).
Habitat	Rock outcrops, rocky meadows	Basaltic cliff faces, n and e slopes at base of cliffs
Elevation	50-100 m (200-300 ft)	200-500 m (700-1600 ft)
Distribution	OR [WildflowerSearch map]	OR; WA [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Of conservation concern. The range of morphologic features of Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum (D. leucophaeum) is almost completely encompassed within that of D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii. Sepal color is the only feature consistently separating the two subspecies. Were it not for the fact that any given population typically has plants of only one flower color, a rank of forma would be more appropriate. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)	Of conservation concern. Hybrids between Delphinium basalticum and D. trolliifolium are known. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source	FNA vol. 3.	FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa	Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa > Delphinium nuttallii	Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Bicoloria
Sibling taxa	D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii, D. nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum	D. alabamicum, D. alpestre, D. andersonii, D. andesicola, D. antoninum, D. bakeri, D. barbeyi, 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. 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
Synonyms	D. menziesii var. (ß) ochroleucum, D. leucophaeum
Name authority	(Nuttall) M. J. Warnock: Phytologia 78: 98. (1995)	M. J. Warnock: Phytologia 78: 91. (1995)
Web links	Local floras: OR, 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: OR, 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

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

(synonym of Delphinium leucophaeum)

Delphinium basalticum

pale larkspur, white rock larkspur

basalt larkspur, basaltic larkspur, Columbia Gorge larkspur

Stems

30-60 cm.

20-50(-65) cm;

base often reddish, puberulent.

Leaves

blade round, 2-6 × 5-9 cm, not succulent, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 5-19, width 3-15 mm (basal), 1-12 mm (cauline).

Inflorescences

(2-)6-16(-26)-flowered;

pedicel 2-7 cm, nearly glabrous;

bracteoles 4-12 mm from flowers, green, linear, 3-7 mm, nearly glabrous.

Flowers

sepals white or light yellow, spurs 9-11 mm;

lower petal blades 4-6 mm.

sepals dark blue, nearly glabrous, lateral sepals spreading, 15-21 × 7-10 mm, spur straight to decurved, ascending 30-45° above horizontal, 14-18 mm;

lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 7-9 mm, cleft 4-5 mm;

hairs centered, mostly on inner lobes above base of cleft, yellow to white.

Fruits

12-17 mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, glabrous.

Seeds

± wing-margined;

seed coat cells with surfaces smooth.

= 16.

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

Delphinium basalticum

Phenology

Flowering late spring.

Flowering spring (-early summer).

Habitat

Rock outcrops, rocky meadows

Basaltic cliff faces, n and e slopes at base of cliffs

Elevation

50-100 m (200-300 ft)

200-500 m (700-1600 ft)

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

OR; WA

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Of conservation concern.

The range of morphologic features of Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum (D. leucophaeum) is almost completely encompassed within that of D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii. Sepal color is the only feature consistently separating the two subspecies. Were it not for the fact that any given population typically has plants of only one flower color, a rank of forma would be more appropriate.

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

Of conservation concern.

Hybrids between Delphinium basalticum and D. trolliifolium are known.

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

Source

FNA vol. 3.

Parent taxa

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa > Delphinium nuttallii

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Bicoloria

Sibling taxa

D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii, D. nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

D. alabamicum, D. alpestre, D. andersonii, D. andesicola, D. antoninum, D. bakeri, D. barbeyi, 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. 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

Synonyms

D. menziesii var. (ß) ochroleucum, D. leucophaeum

Name authority

(Nuttall) M. J. Warnock: Phytologia 78: 98. (1995)

M. J. Warnock: Phytologia 78: 91. (1995)

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, UW Burke Herbarium

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Flora of North America species comparison

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

Delphinium basalticum

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

Delphinium basalticum