FNA: Delphinium leucophaeum vs. Delphinium glaucescens

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum (synonym of Delphinium leucophaeum)	Delphinium glaucescens
	pale larkspur, white rock larkspur	glaucous larkspur, glaucus larkspur, smooth larkspur
Stems	30-60 cm.	35-70(-100) cm; base ± reddish, glabrous, glaucous.
Leaves		blade pentagonal to round, 2-9 × 3-14 cm, margins seldom laciniate, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 5-17, width 2-8 mm, tips abruptly tapered to mucronate apex; midcauline leaf lobes more than 3 times longer than wide.
Inflorescences		10-25-flowered; pedicel 0.5-1.5 cm, puberulent to glabrous; bracteoles 2-20 mm from flowers, green, linear, 3-8 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 to reflexed, 8-12 × 3-4 mm, spurs straight, ascending 40-90°, 9-13 mm; lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 1-2 mm; hairs centered, mostly near base of cleft, white.
Fruits		7-13 mm, 3.4-4 times longer than wide, puberulent.
Seeds		± wing-margined; seed coat cells narrow but short, surfaces smooth.
2n	= 16.

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum	Delphinium glaucescens
Phenology	Flowering late spring.	Flowering summer.
Habitat	Rock outcrops, rocky meadows	Rocky slopes in subalpine coniferous woods
Elevation	50-100 m (200-300 ft)	2000-4000 m (6600-13100 ft)
Distribution	OR [WildflowerSearch map]	ID; MT; WY [WildflowerSearch map] [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.)	Hybrids with Delphinium glaucum 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. Exaltata
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. 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. 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)	Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 155. (1900)
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 Web sites: 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 glaucescens

pale larkspur, white rock larkspur

glaucous larkspur, glaucus larkspur, smooth larkspur

Stems

30-60 cm.

35-70(-100) cm;

base ± reddish, glabrous, glaucous.

Leaves

blade pentagonal to round, 2-9 × 3-14 cm, margins seldom laciniate, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 5-17, width 2-8 mm, tips abruptly tapered to mucronate apex;

midcauline leaf lobes more than 3 times longer than wide.

Inflorescences

10-25-flowered;

pedicel 0.5-1.5 cm, puberulent to glabrous;

bracteoles 2-20 mm from flowers, green, linear, 3-8 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 to reflexed, 8-12 × 3-4 mm, spurs straight, ascending 40-90°, 9-13 mm;

lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 1-2 mm;

hairs centered, mostly near base of cleft, white.

Fruits

7-13 mm, 3.4-4 times longer than wide, puberulent.

Seeds

± wing-margined;

seed coat cells narrow but short, surfaces smooth.

= 16.

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

Delphinium glaucescens

Phenology

Flowering late spring.

Flowering summer.

Habitat

Rock outcrops, rocky meadows

Rocky slopes in subalpine coniferous woods

Elevation

50-100 m (200-300 ft)

2000-4000 m (6600-13100 ft)

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

ID; MT; WY

[WildflowerSearch map]

[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.)

Hybrids with Delphinium glaucum 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. Exaltata

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. 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. 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)

Rydberg: Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1: 155. (1900)

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 glaucescens

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

Delphinium glaucescens