Delphinium nuttallianum
Delphinium gracilentum
dwarf, meadow, Nuttall's larkspur, or Sonne's larkspur, slim, thin-petal larkspur, two-lobe larkspur, upland larkspur
Greene's larkspur, meadow larkspur, pine forest larkspur, slender or Greene's larkspur
unbranched, 10-40(-70) cm;
base reddish, pubescence variable.
(15-)30-50(-80) cm;
base reddish, nearly glabrous.
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, 1.5-4 × 3-7 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-7, distinctly wedge-shaped, usually 5 or fewer extending 3/5 distance to petiole, width 5-20 mm (basal), 1-15 mm (cauline), widest in distal 1/2.
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.
5-20(-38)-flowered;
pedicel spreading from rachis at nearly 90°, 1-3(-4) cm, glabrous or glandular-pubescent;
bracteoles (7-)11-19 mm from flowers, blue or green, linear, 2-5 mm, puberulent to glabrous.
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 bluish purple to pink or white, usually retaining color upon drying, glabrous, lateral sepals reflexed, 6-10(-13) × 3-6 mm, spurs often curved upward, within 30° above or below horizontal, 8-12(-14) mm;
lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 1-3 mm;
hairs almost exclusively near base of cleft, centered or mostly on inner lobes, usually yellow.
7-22 mm, 3.5-5 times longer than wide, glabrous to puberulent.
8-16 mm, 3-3.5 times longer than wide, glabrous to glandular-puberulent.
winged or not;
seed coat cell surfaces smooth or roughened, blunt hairs absent.
unwinged;
seed coats ± pitted, cell surfaces roughened.
= 16.
Delphinium nuttallianum
Delphinium gracilentum
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.)
Delphinium gracilentum hybridizes with D. patens subsp. patens in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills and is very similar to that species, making hybrids difficult to discern. While D. gracilentum and D. patens are easily distinguished in most of their ranges, morphologic distinctions between the two taxa are blurred in the northern Sierra Nevada foothills region, particularly in Butte County, California. Coniferous woods are preferred by D. gracilentum; D. patens subspp. patens and hepaticoideum are more often found in broadleaf woods. The former species has more widely spreading pedicels than the latter, and D. gracilentum usually has wider leaf lobes than D. patens subsp. patens. In the southern Sierra Nevada, D. gracilentum may come in contact with D. patens subsp. montanum. Though hybrids are not common, some gene flow has apparently occurred.
Sepal color phases are not stable and considerable variation occurs within populations. The type specimen of Delphinium gracilentum represents the northern, lower elevation, nonglandular, dark-flowered phase. The type specimen of D. gracilentum forma versicolor Ewan differs only by its pink or white flowers. A limited range of intermediate colors occurs, and populations may be made up of plants of a single color or several different colors. The type specimen of D. greenei Eastwood represents the southern, higher elevation, glandular (at least on pedicels) expression. The type specimen includes representatives of dark- and light-flowered individuals of this phase. The type specimen of D. gracilentum forma versicolor (not seen by the author) is the "albino" phase referred to by Greene in his description of D. gracilentum. Several of the paratypes cited by Ewan have been seen, as have a number of individuals in natural populations.
Delphinium gracilentum has been confused with D. patens or D. nuttallianum. Delphinium gracilentum may be distinguished from D. nuttallianum by its wider leaf lobes, smaller fruits, and more elongate inflorescences, and from D. patens by its wider leaf lobes, more open inflorescences, and usually shorter fruits.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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