Flora of North America species comparison

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Delphinium xantholeucum

Delphinium alabamicum

yellow-white larkspur

Alabama larkspur
Stems

40-60(-100) cm;

base often reddish, glabrous, ± glaucous.

(45-)60-90(-130) cm;

base reddish, pubescent.
Leaves

blade round, 2-6 × 4-10 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 3-8 mm (basal), 1-5 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

10-20(-60)-flowered, narrowly pyramidal;

pedicel spreading, yellowish, 1.5-3 cm, ± glandular-puberulent;

bracteoles 6-12 mm from flowers, green to light brown, linear to lanceolate, 4-7 mm, nearly glabrous.

5-27-flowered;

pedicel 1-5 cm, puberulent;

bracteoles 3-12 mm from flowers, green, linear, 2-8 mm, puberulent.
Flowers

sepals yellow, glabrous, lateral sepals reflexed, 9-12 × 3-5 mm, spurs straight, ascending ca. 45° above horizontal, 11-15 mm;

lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 1-2 mm;

hairs centered mostly on inner lobes near base of cleft, 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

15-22 mm, 3-4 times longer than wide, glabrous to glandular-puberulent.

11-18 mm, 2.5-3 times longer than wide, sparsely puberulent.
Seeds

seed coat cells narrow, short, 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 xantholeucum

Delphinium alabamicum
Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering mid-late spring.
Habitat Slopes in open yellow pine forests, grasslands, sage scrub Very local, thin soils in and on edges of Juniperus glades on limestone substrates
Elevation 150-600 m (500-2000 ft) 100-300 m (300-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; GA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

Delphinium xantholeucum is very local; much of the habitat of this species has been converted to orchards.

(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
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. variegatum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii
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. variegatum, D. viridescens, D. wootonii, D. xantholeucum
Name authority Piper: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 11: 280. (1906) Kral: Sida 6: 250. (1976)
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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