Flora of North America species comparison

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Delphinium parryi

Delphinium parryi subsp. maritimum

Parry's larkspur, San Bernardino larkspur
Photo is of parent taxon

maritime larkspur, seaside larkspur
Roots

less than 10 cm.
Stems

(10-)40-80(-110) cm;

base reddish, puberulent.

15-40 cm.
Leaves

blade pentagonal, 1-7 × 2-10 cm, ± puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-27, width 1-20 mm (basal), 0.5-5 mm (cauline).

well distributed;

basal and cauline leaves present at anthesis; ultimate lobes 5-10, width usually more than 6 mm.
Inflorescences

(2-)8-24(-48)-flowered, cylindric;

pedicel ± spreading, (0.5-)1-3(-6.8) cm, usually puberulent;

bracteoles 2-7(-16) mm from flowers, green to blue, lance-linear, 2-6(-10) mm, puberulent.

bracteoles 4-9 mm.
Flowers

sepals dark blue to bluish purple, puberulent, lateral sepals spreading or reflexed, (7-)10-20(-25) × 4-9 mm, spurs straight, ascending 0-30° above horizontal, 9-17(-21) mm;

lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 3-10 mm, clefts 2-6 mm;

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

sepals usually spreading, lateral sepals 9-20 mm, spurs 8-21 mm;

lower petal blades 4-11 mm.
Fruits

10-19 mm, 2.8-4 times longer than wide, puberulent or glabrous.

Seeds

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

2n

= 16.

Delphinium parryi

Delphinium parryi subsp. maritimum
Phenology Flowering late winter–spring.
Habitat Coastal chaparral
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft)
Distribution
from USDA
North America (Calif)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 5 (5 in the flora).

A number of local phases are found in Delphinium parryi. Five of these appear consistently distinct and are recognized here. Other phases may be locally distinct but grade into other nearby phases. Delphinium parryi hybridizes with D. cardinale (D. ×inflexum Davidson).

The Kawaiisu used the ground root of Delphinium parryi medicinally as a salve for swollen limbs (D. E. Moerman 1986, no subspecies specified).

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

Populations of Delphinium parryi subsp. maritimum are local, very near the coast. The species also occurs on islands off southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico. Occasional individuals with white to grayish blue sepals occur (mostly in Ventura and western Los Angeles counties, where entire populations may consist of such individuals). Collections of subsp. maritimum made before 1940 are numerous; recent collections are much less common. Population reductions have probably resulted from urbanization of its preferred habitat.

Confused with Delphinium variegatum, D. parryi subsp. maritimum lacks the long hairs of that species. Some plants of subsp. maritimum (unringed seeds, erect fruits, and arched hairs) from very near the coast appear superficially like some plants of D. nuttallianum (ringed seeds, spreading fruits, and no arched hairs).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Basal leaves usually absent at anthesis.
→ 2
1. Basal leaves usually present at anthesis.
→ 3
2. Lateral sepals 16–25 mm.
subsp. blochmaniae
2. Lateral sepals 9–15 mm.
subsp. parryi
3. Lateral sepals 7–11 mm; above 700 m elevation.
subsp. purpureum
3. Lateral sepals (9–)12–20 mm; below 700 m elevation.
→ 4
4. Sepals usually reflexed.
subsp. eastwoodiae
4. Sepals usually spreading.
subsp. maritimum
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Subscaposa Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Subscaposa > Delphinium parryi
Sibling taxa
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. 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
D. parryi subsp. blochmaniae, D. parryi subsp. eastwoodiae, D. parryi subsp. parryi, D. parryi subsp. purpureum
Subordinate taxa
D. parryi subsp. blochmaniae, D. parryi subsp. eastwoodiae, D. parryi subsp. maritimum, D. parryi subsp. parryi, D. parryi subsp. purpureum
Synonyms D. parryi var. maritimum
Name authority A. Gray: Bot. Gaz. 12: 53. (1887) (Davidson) M. J. Warnock: Phytologia 68(1): 2. (1990)
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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