Delphinium nuttallianum |
Delphinium decorum |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
dwarf, meadow, Nuttall's larkspur, or Sonne's larkspur, slim, thin-petal larkspur, two-lobe larkspur, upland larkspur |
coast larkspur, coastal larkspur, larkspur, low larkspur, yellowtinge larkspur |
|||||
Stems | unbranched, 10-40(-70) cm; base reddish, pubescence variable. |
5-25(-42) cm; base reddish or not, at least two proximal internodes long-pubescent. |
||||
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 deltate to pentagonal, 1-2.5 × 1.5-4.5 cm, ± puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 3-17 mm (basal), 1-8 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2. |
||||
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. |
2-10(-20)-flowered; pedicel 1-4(-6) cm, puberulent to glabrous; bracteoles (3-)7-11(-21) mm from flowers, green to blue, linear-lanceolate, 6-9(-12) 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 bluish purple (somewhat faded on drying), puberulent, lateral sepals spreading, (11-)15-20(-24) × 6-11(-15) mm, spur straight, 0-30° above horizontal, 13-20 mm; lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 6-11 mm, cleft 2-4 mm; hairs on entire surface, densest on inner lobes, yellow or white. |
||||
Fruits | 7-22 mm, 3.5-5 times longer than wide, glabrous to puberulent. |
9-20 mm, 3-4.5 times longer than wide, glabrous to puberulent. |
||||
Seeds | winged or not; seed coat cell surfaces smooth or roughened, blunt hairs absent. |
wing-margined; seed coat cells ± aggregate in small wavy ridges, cell surfaces ± roughened, without swollen, blunt hairs. |
||||
2n | = 16. |
|||||
Delphinium nuttallianum |
Delphinium decorum |
|||||
Phenology | Flowering spring (-early summer). | |||||
Habitat | Open coniferous woods, grassy sage scrub, meadow edges and well drained streamsides (generally not in very wet sites) | |||||
Elevation | 300-3500 m (1000-11500 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
|
CA
|
||||
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.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). Delphinium decorum and D. menziesii have been confused. Delphinium menziesii usually has darker, colorfast (nonfading) sepals with less lavender, and a more northern distribution than D. decorum. It also has more finely dissected leaves than D. decorum subsp. decorum. Often confused with Delphinium patens, D. decorum is sometimes circumscribed to include that species. The spreading, fading, blue-purple sepals, pubescent proximal portion of stems, and large lower petal blade of D. decorum, compared to the reflexed, colorfast, bluer sepals, proximally glabrous stems, and smaller lower petal blades of D. patens, adequately distinguish the two taxa. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | D. pauciflorum, D. nuttallianum var. fulvum, D. nuttallianum var. levicaule, D. sonnei | |||||
Name authority | Pritzel: in Walpers, Repert. Bot. Syst. 1: 744. (1842) | Fischer & C. A. Meyer: Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. 3: 650. (1837) | ||||
Web links |