FNA: Delphinium oreganum vs. Delphinium recurvatum

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii (synonym of Delphinium oreganum)	Delphinium recurvatum
	Willamette Valley larkspur	Byron larkspur, recurved larkspur, valley larkspur
Stems	40-70 cm.	(18-)30-50(-85) cm; base reddish, glabrous.
Leaves		blade round to pentagonal, 1-4 × 1.5-6 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-11, width 3-15 mm (basal), 1-10 mm (cauline).
Inflorescences		(8-)10-25(-47)-flowered, narrowly pyramidal; pedicel ± spreading, (0.5-)1.5-4(-6) cm, nearly glabrous; bracteoles 3-8(-18) mm from flowers, green, sometimes margins white, lanceolate to linear, 3-5(-8) mm, nearly glabrous.
Flowers	sepals blue or bluish purple, spurs 10-13 mm; lower petal blades 4.5-6.5 mm.	sepals light to sky blue (becoming bluer upon drying), puberulent, lateral sepals reflexed, 11-16 × 5-7(-9) mm, spurs straight to gently upcurved, ascending 0-30° above horizontal, 10-15(-18) mm; lower petal blades elevated, ± exposing stamens, 5-8 mm, clefts 0.5-2.5 mm; hairs mostly centered on inner lobes near base of cleft, white.
Fruits		8-21 mm, 2.2-3 times longer than wide, puberulent.
Seeds		seed coat cells brick-shaped, cell margins undulate, surfaces roughened.
2n	= 16.	= 16.

	Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii	Delphinium recurvatum
Phenology	Flowering late spring–early summer.	Flowering spring.
Habitat	Rock outcrops, rocky meadows	Grassland, Atriplex scrub
Elevation	20-300 m (100-1000 ft)	30-600 m (100-2000 ft)
Distribution	OR; WA	CA [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion		Of conservation concern. Delphinium recurvatum has a very restricted distribution in the Central (especially San Joaquin) Valley. This species was probably much more common in the past; most of its habitat has been converted into irrigated croplands. Delphinium recurvatum grows in poorly drained, alkaline soils on valley floors. Hybrids are known between Delphinium recurvatum and D. gypsophilum, D. hesperium, D. parryi, and D. variegatum. Delphinium recurvatum is most likely to be confused with D. gypsophilum or D. hesperium subsp. pallescens. Distinguishing features are found in discussions of those taxa. (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. Subscaposa
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. 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. 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. hesperium var. recurvatum
Name authority	unknown	Greene: Pittonia 1: 285. (1889)
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	Local floras: CA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos 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 recurvatum

Willamette Valley larkspur

Byron larkspur, recurved larkspur, valley larkspur

Stems

40-70 cm.

(18-)30-50(-85) cm;

base reddish, glabrous.

Leaves

blade round to pentagonal, 1-4 × 1.5-6 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-11, width 3-15 mm (basal), 1-10 mm (cauline).

Inflorescences

(8-)10-25(-47)-flowered, narrowly pyramidal;

pedicel ± spreading, (0.5-)1.5-4(-6) cm, nearly glabrous;

bracteoles 3-8(-18) mm from flowers, green, sometimes margins white, lanceolate to linear, 3-5(-8) mm, nearly glabrous.

Flowers

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

lower petal blades 4.5-6.5 mm.

sepals light to sky blue (becoming bluer upon drying), puberulent, lateral sepals reflexed, 11-16 × 5-7(-9) mm, spurs straight to gently upcurved, ascending 0-30° above horizontal, 10-15(-18) mm;

lower petal blades elevated, ± exposing stamens, 5-8 mm, clefts 0.5-2.5 mm;

hairs mostly centered on inner lobes near base of cleft, white.

Fruits

8-21 mm, 2.2-3 times longer than wide, puberulent.

Seeds

seed coat cells brick-shaped, cell margins undulate, surfaces roughened.

= 16.

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

Delphinium recurvatum

Phenology

Flowering late spring–early summer.

Flowering spring.

Habitat

Rock outcrops, rocky meadows

Grassland, Atriplex scrub

Elevation

20-300 m (100-1000 ft)

30-600 m (100-2000 ft)

Distribution

OR; WA

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Delphinium recurvatum has a very restricted distribution in the Central (especially San Joaquin) Valley. This species was probably much more common in the past; most of its habitat has been converted into irrigated croplands. Delphinium recurvatum grows in poorly drained, alkaline soils on valley floors.

Hybrids are known between Delphinium recurvatum and D. gypsophilum, D. hesperium, D. parryi, and D. variegatum. Delphinium recurvatum is most likely to be confused with D. gypsophilum or D. hesperium subsp. pallescens. Distinguishing features are found in discussions of those taxa.

(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. Subscaposa

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. 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. 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. hesperium var. recurvatum

Name authority

unknown

Greene: Pittonia 1: 285. (1889)

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 recurvatum

Delphinium nuttallii subsp. nuttallii

Delphinium recurvatum