Delphinium nudicaule |
Delphinium alabamicum |
|
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canyon delphinium, canyon larkspur, orange larkspur, red larkspur, red or orange larkspur, scarlet larkspur |
Alabama larkspur |
|
Stems | (15-)20-50(-125) cm; base reddish, glabrous. |
(45-)60-90(-130) cm; base reddish, pubescent. |
Leaves | blade round to pentagonal, 2-6 × 3-10 cm; ultimate lobes 3-12, width 5-40 mm (basal), 2-20 mm (cauline). |
blade reniform to semicircular, 2-11 × 3-19 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-35, width 3-8 mm (basal), 0.5-3 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2. |
Inflorescences | 5-20(-69)-flowered; pedicel (1.5-)2-6(-8) cm, glabrous to glandular-pubescent; bracteoles 14-20(-30) mm from flowers, green to red, linear, 2-4(-9) mm, glabrous to puberulent. |
5-27-flowered; pedicel 1-5 cm, puberulent; bracteoles 3-12 mm from flowers, green, linear, 2-8 mm, puberulent. |
Flowers | sepals scarlet to reddish orange, rarely dull yellow, glabrous, lateral sepals forward-pointing to form pseudotube, (6-)8-13(-16) × 3-6 mm, spurs straight, slightly ascending, (12-)18-27(-34) mm; lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, 2-3 mm, clefts 0.5-1 mm; hairs sparse, evenly dispersed, yellow. |
sepals royal blue, ± drab, often partly fading upon drying, puberulent, lateral sepals spreading, 12-20 × 5-10 mm, spurs straight, horizontal to slightly ascending, (13-)15-16.5(-19) mm; lower petal blades ± covering reproductive parts, 4-10 mm, clefts 3-5 mm; hairs centered between claw and base of cleft, covering most of adaxial surface, white. |
Fruits | 13-26 mm, 3.5-4.5 times longer than wide, glabrous. |
11-18 mm, 2.5-3 times longer than wide, sparsely puberulent. |
Seeds | unwinged or sometimes slightly wing-margined; seed coat cells with surfaces smooth. |
unwinged; surface of each seed coat cell with with swollen, blunt, hairlike structures, barely visible at 20x, otherwise smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Delphinium nudicaule |
Delphinium alabamicum |
|
Phenology | Flowering late winter–early summer. | Flowering mid-late spring. |
Habitat | Moist talus, cliff faces | Very local, thin soils in and on edges of Juniperus glades on limestone substrates |
Elevation | 0-2600 m (0-8500 ft) | 100-300 m (300-1000 ft) |
Distribution |
CA; OR
|
AL; GA
|
Discussion | Delphinium nudicaule hybridizes with most other taxa of Delphinium that it encounters. Apparent hybrids involving D. nudicaule, and seen by the author (either afield or as specimens), include D. andersonii, D. antoninum, D. decorum, D. luteum, D. nuttallianum, D. patens, and D. trolliifolium. In addition, garden-grown plants have been hybridized with D. cardinale, D. elatum, D. menziesii, D. parishii, D. penardii, D. tatsienense Franchet, D. triste Fischer ex de Candolle, and D. uliginosum; D. nudicaule does not naturally occur with these species. Delphinium nudicaule is one of the earliest larkspurs to flower in any given locality. Douglas's type collection of D. nudicaule represents plants (synonyms D. sarcophyllum Hooker & Arnott and D. peltatum Hooker, an invalid name) grown under very moist conditions, probably quite near the ocean. The type specimen of D. armeniacum A. Heller represents plants grown under unusually dry conditions. The Mendocino Indians consider Delphinium nudicaule a narcotic (D. E. Moerman 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. In addition to the Alabama sites, Delphinium alabamicum is known from one population in Georgia; it might have been transplanted there. Delphinium alabamicum has not been seen in central Alabama since 1950; populations there might have been extirpated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Bicoloria | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. armeniacum | |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 33. (1838) | Kral: Sida 6: 250. (1976) |
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