Delphinium variegatum |
Delphinium scaposum |
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royal larkspur |
bare-stem larkspur, desert larkspur, tall mountain larkspur |
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Stems | (10-)20-50(-80) cm; base reddish or not, not longitudinally ridged, long-pubescent. |
25-50(-65) cm; base usually reddish, glabrous, glaucous. |
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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, 0.5-4 × 0.5-6 cm, puberulent to glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-9, width 2-15 mm (basal), 0.5-3 mm (cauline). |
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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. |
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. |
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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 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. |
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Fruits | 9-19 mm, 2.2-3.8 times longer than wide, ± puberulent. |
12-16 mm, 2.5-3 times longer than wide, glabrous. |
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Seeds | not echinate, appearing ± smooth to naked eye; seed coat cells with margins ± undulate, surfaces roughened. |
seed coat cells ± brick-shaped, cell margins straight, surfaces smooth. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Delphinium variegatum |
Delphinium scaposum |
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Phenology | Flowering spring. | |||||||||
Habitat | Juniper woods, grassland | |||||||||
Elevation | 1200-2700 m (3900-8900 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
CA
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AZ; CO; NM; UT
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Discussion | Subspecies 3 (3 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Echinata | Ranunculaceae > Delphinium > sect. Diedropetala > subsect. Subscaposa | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | D. andersonii var. scaposum | |||||||||
Name authority | Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 32. 183: not D. variegatum Baillon 1883 | Greene: Bot. Gaz. 6: 156. 1881, not D. scaposum W. T. Wang (1957) | ||||||||
Web links |