Flora of North America species comparison

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Delphinium newtonianum

royal larkspur

newton's larkspur, Ozark larkspur

Stems

(10-)20-50(-80) cm;

base reddish or not, not longitudinally ridged, long-pubescent.

40-90 cm;

base often reddish, puberulent.

Leaves

blade round to pentagonal, 1-4.5 × 2-6 cm, pubescent; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 3-8 mm (basal), 2-5 mm (cauline).

blade round to pentagonal, 4-7 × 5-15 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-7, width 8-20 mm (basal), 5-15 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2.

Inflorescences

(4-)6-17(-20)-flowered, open;

pedicel 0.5-3(-7) cm, usually puberulent;

bracteoles 2-7(-23) mm from flowers, green, linear-lanceolate, 3-8 mm, puberulent.

8-20(-40)-flowered, as wide as long or nearly so;

pedicel 1-4(-6) cm, pubescent;

bracteoles 6-15 mm from flowers, green, linear, 1.5-5 mm, puberulent.

Flowers

sepals usually deep royal blue, sometimes bright blue to light blue or white, ± finely pubescent, lateral sepals spreading, 10-18(-25) × 6-10 mm, spurs straight, ascending ca. 30° above horizontal, 10-19 mm;

lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 4-11 mm, clefts 0.5-3.5 mm;

hairs sparse, more on inner lobes than outer lobe or centered, scattered on margins, white or yellow.

sepals dark to light blue, rarely white, glabrous, lateral sepals spreading, 12-14 × 6-7 mm, spurs straight to decurved, within 30° of horizontal, 10-15 mm;

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

hairs mostly centered near base of cleft, yellow.

Fruits

9-19 mm, 2.2-3.8 times longer than wide, ± puberulent.

8-12 mm, 3-3.5 times longer than wide, nearly glabrous.

Seeds

not echinate, appearing ± smooth to naked eye;

seed coat cells with margins ± undulate, surfaces roughened.

unwinged;

surface of each seed coat cell with swollen, blunt, hairlike structures, barely visible at 20x, otherwise smooth.

Delphinium variegatum

Delphinium newtonianum

Phenology

Flowering early summer.

Habitat

Slopes in deciduous forest

Elevation

500-700 m (1600-2300 ft)

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora).

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

No cases of hybridization are known. Delphinium newtonianum often occurs in mixed populations with D. tricorne. It normally does not begin flowering until 4-6 weeks after D. tricorne has finished.

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

Key

1. Long hairs dense on base of stem; sepals usually deep royal blue; mainland.	subsp. variegatum
1. Long hairs sparse on proximal portion of stems; sepals white to bright blue; islands.	→ 2
2. Sepals bright blue to light blue.	subsp. thornei
2. Sepals white to light blue.	subsp. kinkiense

Source

FNA vol. 3.

Parent taxa

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Echinata

Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Grumosa

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. uliginosum, D. umbraculorum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii, D. xantholeucum

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. 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. uliginosum, D. umbraculorum, D. variegatum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii, D. xantholeucum

Subordinate taxa

D. variegatum subsp. kinkiense, D. variegatum subsp. thornei, D. variegatum subsp. variegatum

Name authority

Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 32. 183: not D. variegatum Baillon 1883

D. M. Moore: Rhodora 41: 196. (1939)

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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