Delphinium xantholeucum |
Delphinium elatum |
|
---|---|---|
yellow-white larkspur |
candle larkspur, candle larkspur (vascan: harms 2006), larkspur |
|
Stems | 40-60(-100) cm; base often reddish, glabrous, ± glaucous. |
40-200 cm; base green, pubescent or glabrous. |
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, 3-15 × 6-22 cm, ± puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-9, width 8-30 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. |
25-100(-more)-flowered; pedicel 1-3(-5) cm, glabrous to pubescent; bracteoles 2-5(-9) mm from flowers, green, linear, 5-9 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 blue, white, or purple, ± puberulent, lateral sepals spreading, 12-23 × 4-12 mm, spurs straight, ascending ca. 45° above horizontal, 15-22 mm; lower petal blades elevated, exposing stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 0.2-1 mm; hairs sparse or dense, mostly near center of blade, yellow or white. |
Fruits | 15-22 mm, 3-4 times longer than wide, glabrous to glandular-puberulent. |
13-20 mm, 3.5-4.5 times longer than wide, ± puberulent. |
Seeds | seed coat cells narrow, short, cell margins straight, surfaces smooth. |
winged; seed coats ± with small wavy ridges, cells elongate, surface roughened. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Delphinium xantholeucum |
Delphinium elatum |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering summer, more than 8 weeks after snowmelt. |
Habitat | Slopes in open yellow pine forests, grasslands, sage scrub | Old homesites |
Elevation | 150-600 m (500-2000 ft) | 50-3000 m (200-9800 ft) |
Distribution |
WA
|
BC; MB; SK; and probably elsewhere; native to Europe and w Asia [Introduced in North America] |
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.) |
Delphinium elatum is cultivated as a garden plant or for cut flowers. It is not known to be naturalized extensively in North America; it may persist long after cultivation in cooler parts of the region. (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. Elatopsis > subsect. Elata |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Piper: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 11: 280. (1906) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 531. (1753) |
Web links |