FNA: Delphinium oreganum vs. Delphinium geraniifolium

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii (synonym of Delphinium oreganum)	Delphinium geraniifolium
	Willamette Valley larkspur	Clark Valley larkspur, Mogollon larkspur
Stems	40-70 cm.	60-100 cm; base reddish, puberulent, midstems pubescent.
Leaves		blade dark green, at least adaxially, fan-shaped to reniform, 2-5 × 3-7 cm, pubescent, especially abaxially; ultimate lobes 5-15, width 4-15 mm (basal lobes 5-15 mm), apex abruptly tapered, usually mucronate; veins prominent.
Inflorescences		20-90-flowered, dense, cylindric; pedicel ascending to spreading, 1-2 cm, puberulent; bracteoles 1-2 mm from flowers, green, linear, 4-6 mm, puberulent.
Flowers	sepals blue or bluish purple, spurs 10-13 mm; lower petal blades 4.5-6.5 mm.	sepals dark blue to purple, puberulent, lateral sepals spreading to slightly forward pointing, 10-14 × 3-5 mm, spurs ascending 20-70°, truncate or downcurved apically, 12-15 mm; lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 4-6 mm, clefts 0.5-2 mm; hairs sparse, local below junction of blade and claw, scattered on margins, white.
Fruits		13-18 mm, 3-3.5 times longer than wide, puberulent.
Seeds		unwinged; seed coat cells with margins straight, surfaces ± roughened.
2n	= 16.	= 16.

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii	Delphinium geraniifolium
Phenology	Flowering late spring–early summer.	Flowering summer.
Habitat	Rock outcrops, rocky meadows	Heavy clay soil, dry meadows in coniferous woods
Elevation	20-300 m (100-1000 ft)	1800-3400 m (5900-11200 ft)
Distribution	OR; WA	AZ; NM [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion		Delphinium geraniifolium is a more pubescent analog of the closely related D. scopulorum, the former occurring in heavier soils at higher elvation. (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. Wislizenana
Sibling taxa	D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii, D. nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum	D. alabamicum, D. alpestre, 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. 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. tenuisectum subsp. amplibracteatum
Name authority	unknown	Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 583. (1899)
Web links	Local floras: OR Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

(synonym of Delphinium oreganum)

Delphinium geraniifolium

Willamette Valley larkspur

Clark Valley larkspur, Mogollon larkspur

Stems

40-70 cm.

60-100 cm;

base reddish, puberulent, midstems pubescent.

Leaves

blade dark green, at least adaxially, fan-shaped to reniform, 2-5 × 3-7 cm, pubescent, especially abaxially; ultimate lobes 5-15, width 4-15 mm (basal lobes 5-15 mm), apex abruptly tapered, usually mucronate;

veins prominent.

Inflorescences

20-90-flowered, dense, cylindric;

pedicel ascending to spreading, 1-2 cm, puberulent;

bracteoles 1-2 mm from flowers, green, linear, 4-6 mm, puberulent.

Flowers

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

lower petal blades 4.5-6.5 mm.

sepals dark blue to purple, puberulent, lateral sepals spreading to slightly forward pointing, 10-14 × 3-5 mm, spurs ascending 20-70°, truncate or downcurved apically, 12-15 mm;

lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 4-6 mm, clefts 0.5-2 mm;

hairs sparse, local below junction of blade and claw, scattered on margins, white.

Fruits

13-18 mm, 3-3.5 times longer than wide, puberulent.

Seeds

unwinged;

seed coat cells with margins straight, surfaces ± roughened.

= 16.

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

Delphinium geraniifolium

Phenology

Flowering late spring–early summer.

Flowering summer.

Habitat

Rock outcrops, rocky meadows

Heavy clay soil, dry meadows in coniferous woods

Elevation

20-300 m (100-1000 ft)

1800-3400 m (5900-11200 ft)

Distribution

OR; WA

AZ; NM

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Delphinium geraniifolium is a more pubescent analog of the closely related D. scopulorum, the former occurring in heavier soils at higher elvation.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source

FNA vol. 3.

Parent taxa

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa > Delphinium nuttallii

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Wislizenana

Sibling taxa

D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii, D. nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum

D. alabamicum, D. alpestre, 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. 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. tenuisectum subsp. amplibracteatum

Name authority

unknown

Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 26: 583. (1899)

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).

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

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Flora of North America species comparison

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

Delphinium geraniifolium

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

Delphinium geraniifolium