Delphinium nudicaule |
Delphinium sect. Diedropetala |
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canyon delphinium, canyon larkspur, orange larkspur, red larkspur, red or orange larkspur, scarlet larkspur |
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Roots | 2-80 cm, tuberlike or fibrous, dry or fleshy; buds often less than 3 mm. |
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Stems | (15-)20-50(-125) cm; base reddish, glabrous. |
1-8(-19) per root; base firmly attached to root or not. |
Leaves | blade round to pentagonal, 2-6 × 3-10 cm; ultimate lobes 3-12, width 5-40 mm (basal), 2-20 mm (cauline). |
cauline and/or in basal rosette, gradually or abruptly reduced into bracts. |
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. |
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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 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). |
Fruits | 13-26 mm, 3.5-4.5 times longer than wide, glabrous. |
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Seeds | unwinged or sometimes slightly wing-margined; seed coat cells with surfaces smooth. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Delphinium nudicaule |
Delphinium sect. Diedropetala |
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Phenology | Flowering late winter–early summer. | |
Habitat | Moist talus, cliff faces | |
Elevation | 0-2600 m (0-8500 ft) | |
Distribution |
CA; OR
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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.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3, p. 197. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Bicoloria | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Subordinate taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. armeniacum | |
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 33. (1838) | Huth: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 20: 420. (1895) |
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