Delphinium nuttallianum |
Delphinium alpestre |
|
---|---|---|
dwarf, meadow, Nuttall's larkspur, or Sonne's larkspur, slim, thin-petal larkspur, two-lobe larkspur, upland larkspur |
alpine larkspur, Colorado larkspur |
|
Stems | unbranched, 10-40(-70) cm; base reddish, pubescence variable. |
5-25 cm; base green, puberulent. |
Leaves | blade round, 1-6 × 2-12 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 5-21, 5 or more extending more than 3/5 distance to petiole, width 1-7(-14) mm (basal), 0.5-6 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2. |
blade round to pentagonal, 1.5-5 × 2-5 cm, puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 2-11 mm. |
Inflorescences | 4-18(-48)-flowered, at least 2 times as long as wide; pedicel 0.8-6 cm, pubescence variable; bracteoles 3-8(-18) mm from flowers, green to blue, linear, 3-7 mm, pubescence variable. |
2-8-flowered; pedicel 1-4 cm, puberulent; bracteoles 1-3 mm from flowers, green, linear-lanceolate, 6-10 mm, puberulent. |
Flowers | sepals usually bluish purple, rarely white to pink, puberulent, lateral sepals reflexed or spreading, 8-21 × 3-10 mm, spurs decurved to straight, ascending 20-60° above horizontal, 8-23 mm; lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, blue to purple, except sometimes in white-flowered plants, 4-11 mm, clefts 2-5 mm; hairs mostly on inner lobes below junction of blade and claw, white, rarely yellow. |
sepals dark blue, apex rounded, puberulent, lateral sepals spreading to forward pointing, 11-14 × 5-7 mm, spurs straight except usually slightly down-curved at apex, varying from 20° above to 20° below horizontal, 8-12 mm; lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 4-6 mm, clefts 2-4 mm; hairs sparse, mostly near base of cleft, centered on inner lobes, white. |
Fruits | 7-22 mm, 3.5-5 times longer than wide, glabrous to puberulent. |
7-12 mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, puberulent. |
Seeds | winged or not; seed coat cell surfaces smooth or roughened, blunt hairs absent. |
unwinged; seed coat cells elongate, surface roughened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Delphinium nuttallianum |
Delphinium alpestre |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (-early summer). | Flowering mid-late summer. |
Habitat | Open coniferous woods, grassy sage scrub, meadow edges and well drained streamsides (generally not in very wet sites) | Exposed talus slopes on high peaks |
Elevation | 300-3500 m (1000-11500 ft) | (3400-)3800 m and above ((11200-)12500 ft and above) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
|
CO; NM |
Discussion | Delphinium nuttallianum represents an extremely difficult complex, with many variations in a number of morphologic traits. The complex has been and continues to be a major source of confusion for identification of Delphinium in North America. Type specimens of D. nuttallianum represent plants growing under dry conditions in open areas. These are typically found at 1200-2000 m in sage scrub or lower montane forest. Delphinium nuttallianum may be confused with D. andersonii, D. antoninum, D. depauperatum, D. gracilentum, and two subspecies of D. patens (subsp. patens and subsp. montanum). Features that may be used to separate D. nuttallianum from the first four, are enumerated under the respective species discussions. From D. patens subsp. patens, D. nuttallianum may be distinguished by its narrower leaf lobes, larger fruits, and more compact inflorescence. The frequent presence of glandular hairs in the inflorescence of D. patens subsp. montanum, contrasted with their absence in D. nuttallianum, will separate these taxa. Dwarfed plants of D. polycladon may be confused with D. nuttallianum. The latter, however may be distinguished by its ringed seeds, and it does not have prominent buds or sigmoid pedicel. Hybrids have been seen between Delphinium nuttallianum and D. andersonii, D. depauperatum (D. ×burkei Greene), D. distichum (D. ×diversicolor Rydberg), D. nudicaule, and D. polycladon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Of conservation concern. Delphinium alpestre is very similar to D. ramosum, possibly divergent from that taxon only since the most recent glaciation of North America, during which ancestors of D. alpestre might have survived on peaks above the ice, while ancestors of D. ramosum survived in valleys below the ice. Since glaciation, D. ramosum apparently has migrated upslope, near but not adjoining populations of D. alpestre. (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 | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Exaltata |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. pauciflorum, D. nuttallianum var. fulvum, D. nuttallianum var. levicaule, D. sonnei | D. ramosum var. alpestre |
Name authority | Pritzel: in Walpers, Repert. Bot. Syst. 1: 744. (1842) | Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 29: 146. (1902) |
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