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swamp larkspur

Roots

2-80 cm, tuberlike or fibrous, dry or fleshy;

buds often less than 3 mm.

Stems

10-30(-70) cm;

base reddish or not, nearly glabrous.

1-8(-19) per root;

base firmly attached to root or not.

Leaves

blade obdeltoid, apically several parted, 1-8 × 1-7 cm, ± fleshy, glabrous; ultimate lobes 0-3, width 3-20 mm (cauline only);

margins of basal leaf, measured less than 1 cm from blade base, demarcating less than 90° of arc when leaf laid flat.

cauline and/or in basal rosette, gradually or abruptly reduced into bracts.

Inflorescences

5-20(-48)-flowered, ± open;

pedicel 0.3-3(-10) cm, glabrous to puberulent;

bracteoles 2-3(-5) mm from flowers, green to blue, lanceolate-linear, 3-4(-7) mm, puberulent.

Flowers

sepals dark blue, nearly glabrous, lateral sepals spreading, 9-15 × 5-8 mm, spurs usually upcurved, ascending 30-45° above horizontal, 10-14 mm;

lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 4-5 mm, clefts 2-3 mm;

hairs centered, densest on inner lobe above base of cleft, also on margins, white.

sepals blue, purple, white, red, or yellow;

lower petal blades often same color as lateral sepals, usually greater than 1/5 length of lateral sepals (exceptions in red- and yellow-flowered species).

Fruits

10-18 mm, 4.1-4.5 times longer than wide, puberulent.

Seeds

seed coat cells with surfaces bumpy or wavy.

2n

= 16.

Delphinium uliginosum

Delphinium sect. Diedropetala

Phenology Flowering late spring–early summer.
Habitat Serpentine streamsides, chaparral, grassland
Elevation 400-600 m (1300-2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Although some populations are large, Delphinium uliginosum is very local. Hybrids with D. hesperium subsp. pallescens have been seen.

Delphinium uliginosum is a very distinctive species, not likely to be confused with any other. The fan-shaped, slightly dissected leaves are apparently unique in the genus.

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

Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3, p. 197.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Depauperata Ranunculaceae > Delphinium
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. 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. umbraculorum, D. variegatum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii, D. xantholeucum
Subordinate taxa
Name authority Curran: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 1: 151. (1885) Huth: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 20: 420. (1895)
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