Delphinium scaposum |
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bare-stem larkspur, desert larkspur, tall mountain larkspur |
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Stems | 25-50(-65) cm; base usually reddish, glabrous, glaucous. |
Leaves | blade ± round, 0.5-4 × 0.5-6 cm, puberulent to glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-9, width 2-15 mm (basal), 0.5-3 mm (cauline). |
Inflorescences | 10-25(-40)-flowered, cylindric; pedicel ascending, 0.6-2.5 cm, glabrous; bracteoles 2-5 mm from flowers, green to blue, linear-lanceolate, 2-4 mm, glabrous. |
Flowers | sepals bright dark blue, glabrous, lateral sepals spreading, 11-14 × 4-6 mm, spurs straight, sometimes decurved, ascending 30-45° above horizontal, 13-18 mm; lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, 5-8 mm, cleft 2-4 mm; hairs mostly centered on inner lobes near junction of blade and claw, white. |
Fruits | 12-16 mm, 2.5-3 times longer than wide, glabrous. |
Seeds | seed coat cells ± brick-shaped, cell margins straight, surfaces smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
Delphinium scaposum |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. |
Habitat | Juniper woods, grassland |
Elevation | 1200-2700 m (3900-8900 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; UT
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Discussion | Delphinium scaposum is reportedly used in Navajo and Hopi religous ceremonies, as well as for a wash following childbirth (D. E. Moerman 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Subscaposa |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | D. andersonii var. scaposum |
Name authority | Greene: Bot. Gaz. 6: 156. 1881, not D. scaposum W. T. Wang (1957) |
Web links |