Delphinium xantholeucum |
Delphinium alpestre |
|
---|---|---|
yellow-white larkspur |
alpine larkspur, Colorado larkspur |
|
Stems | 40-60(-100) cm; base often reddish, glabrous, ± glaucous. |
5-25 cm; base green, puberulent. |
Leaves | blade round, 2-6 × 4-10 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 3-8 mm (basal), 1-5 mm (cauline). |
blade round to pentagonal, 1.5-5 × 2-5 cm, puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 2-11 mm. |
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. |
2-8-flowered; pedicel 1-4 cm, puberulent; bracteoles 1-3 mm from flowers, green, linear-lanceolate, 6-10 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 dark blue, apex rounded, puberulent, lateral sepals spreading to forward pointing, 11-14 × 5-7 mm, spurs straight except usually slightly down-curved at apex, varying from 20° above to 20° below horizontal, 8-12 mm; lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 4-6 mm, clefts 2-4 mm; hairs sparse, mostly near base of cleft, centered on inner lobes, white. |
Fruits | 15-22 mm, 3-4 times longer than wide, glabrous to glandular-puberulent. |
7-12 mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, puberulent. |
Seeds | seed coat cells narrow, short, cell margins straight, surfaces smooth. |
unwinged; seed coat cells elongate, surface roughened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Delphinium xantholeucum |
Delphinium alpestre |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering mid-late summer. |
Habitat | Slopes in open yellow pine forests, grasslands, sage scrub | Exposed talus slopes on high peaks |
Elevation | 150-600 m (500-2000 ft) | (3400-)3800 m and above ((11200-)12500 ft and above) |
Distribution |
WA
|
CO; NM |
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. Delphinium alpestre is very similar to D. ramosum, possibly divergent from that taxon only since the most recent glaciation of North America, during which ancestors of D. alpestre might have survived on peaks above the ice, while ancestors of D. ramosum survived in valleys below the ice. Since glaciation, D. ramosum apparently has migrated upslope, near but not adjoining populations of D. alpestre. (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. Exaltata |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. ramosum var. alpestre | |
Name authority | Piper: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 11: 280. (1906) | Rydberg: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 29: 146. (1902) |
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