Delphinium scaposum |
Delphinium alabamicum |
|
---|---|---|
bare-stem larkspur, desert larkspur, tall mountain larkspur |
Alabama larkspur |
|
Stems | 25-50(-65) cm; base usually reddish, glabrous, glaucous. |
(45-)60-90(-130) cm; base reddish, pubescent. |
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). |
blade reniform to semicircular, 2-11 × 3-19 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-35, width 3-8 mm (basal), 0.5-3 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2. |
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. |
5-27-flowered; pedicel 1-5 cm, puberulent; bracteoles 3-12 mm from flowers, green, linear, 2-8 mm, puberulent. |
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. |
sepals royal blue, ± drab, often partly fading upon drying, puberulent, lateral sepals spreading, 12-20 × 5-10 mm, spurs straight, horizontal to slightly ascending, (13-)15-16.5(-19) mm; lower petal blades ± covering reproductive parts, 4-10 mm, clefts 3-5 mm; hairs centered between claw and base of cleft, covering most of adaxial surface, white. |
Fruits | 12-16 mm, 2.5-3 times longer than wide, glabrous. |
11-18 mm, 2.5-3 times longer than wide, sparsely puberulent. |
Seeds | seed coat cells ± brick-shaped, cell margins straight, surfaces smooth. |
unwinged; surface of each seed coat cell with with swollen, blunt, hairlike structures, barely visible at 20x, otherwise smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
= 16. |
Delphinium scaposum |
Delphinium alabamicum |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering mid-late spring. |
Habitat | Juniper woods, grassland | Very local, thin soils in and on edges of Juniperus glades on limestone substrates |
Elevation | 1200-2700 m (3900-8900 ft) | 100-300 m (300-1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CO; NM; UT
|
AL; GA
|
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.) |
Of conservation concern. In addition to the Alabama sites, Delphinium alabamicum is known from one population in Georgia; it might have been transplanted there. Delphinium alabamicum has not been seen in central Alabama since 1950; populations there might have been extirpated. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Subscaposa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. andersonii var. scaposum | |
Name authority | Greene: Bot. Gaz. 6: 156. 1881, not D. scaposum W. T. Wang (1957) | Kral: Sida 6: 250. (1976) |
Web links |