Flora of North America species comparison

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Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

(synonym of Delphinium oreganum)

Delphinium alpestre
Delphinium oreganum

Willamette Valley larkspur

alpine larkspur, Colorado larkspur
Stems

40-70 cm.

5-25 cm;

base green, puberulent.
Leaves

blade round to pentagonal, 1.5-5 × 2-5 cm, puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 2-11 mm.
Inflorescences

2-8-flowered;

pedicel 1-4 cm, puberulent;

bracteoles 1-3 mm from flowers, green, linear-lanceolate, 6-10 mm, puberulent.
Flowers

sepals blue or bluish purple, spurs 10-13 mm;

lower petal blades 4.5-6.5 mm.

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

7-12 mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, puberulent.
Seeds

unwinged;

seed coat cells elongate, surface roughened.
2n

= 16.

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

Delphinium alpestre
Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer. Flowering mid-late summer.
Habitat Rock outcrops, rocky meadows Exposed talus slopes on high peaks
Elevation 20-300 m (100-1000 ft) (3400-)3800 m and above ((11200-)12500 ft and above)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA
from FNA
CO; NM
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 > Delphinium nuttallii Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Exaltata
Sibling taxa
D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii, D. nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum
D. alabamicum, D. andersonii, D. andesicola, D. antoninum, D. bakeri, D. barbeyi, D. basalticum, D. bicolor, D. brachycentrum, D. californicum, D. cardinale, D. carolinianum, D. decorum, D. depauperatum, D. distichum, D. elatum, D. exaltatum, D. geraniifolium, D. geyeri, D. glareosum, D. glaucescens, D. glaucum, D. gracilentum, D. gypsophilum, D. hansenii, D. hesperium, D. hutchinsoniae, D. inopinum, D. lineapetalum, D. luteum, D. madrense, D. menziesii, D. multiplex, D. newtonianum, D. novomexicanum, D. nudicaule, D. nuttallianum, D. nuttallii, D. parishii, D. parryi, D. patens, D. polycladon, D. purpusii, D. ramosum, D. recurvatum, D. robustum, D. sapellonis, D. scaposum, D. scopulorum, D. stachydeum, D. sutherlandii, D. treleasei, D. tricorne, D. trolliifolium, D. uliginosum, D. umbraculorum, D. variegatum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii, D. xantholeucum
Synonyms D. ramosum var. alpestre
Name authority unknown Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 29: 146. (1902)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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