Delphinium xantholeucum |
Delphinium inopinum |
|
---|---|---|
yellow-white larkspur |
unexpected larkspur |
|
Stems | 40-60(-100) cm; base often reddish, glabrous, ± glaucous. |
70-110(-150) cm; base reddish or not, glabrous, often glaucous. |
Leaves | blade round, 2-6 × 4-10 cm, nearly glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 3-8 mm (basal), 1-5 mm (cauline). |
blade ± pentagonal, 1-5 × 1.5-7 cm, glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-9, width 5-28 mm (basal), 3-18 mm (cauline). |
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. |
20-35(-51)-flowered, usually dense; pedicel 0.3-1.5(-2.5) cm, glabrous; bracteoles 2-4 mm from flowers, green, linear, 1-2(-4) mm, nearly glabrous. |
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 white to light blue, glabrous, lateral sepals spreading to forward pointing, 8-12 × 3-5 mm, spurs straight to gently upcurved, ascending 30-60° above horizontal, 9-12 mm; lower petal blades slightly elevated, ± exposing stamens, 3-5 mm, clefts 1-2 mm; hairs centered, densest near base of cleft, white. |
Fruits | 15-22 mm, 3-4 times longer than wide, glabrous to glandular-puberulent. |
12-20 mm, 2.6-4 times longer than wide, glabrous. |
Seeds | seed coat cells narrow, short, cell margins straight, surfaces smooth. |
wing-margined; seed coat cells surfaces smooth. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Delphinium xantholeucum |
Delphinium inopinum |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring. | Flowering summer. |
Habitat | Slopes in open yellow pine forests, grasslands, sage scrub | Rock outcrops in open coniferous woods |
Elevation | 150-600 m (500-2000 ft) | 2200-2800 m (7200-9200 ft) |
Distribution |
WA
|
CA |
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 inopinum is apparently endemic to a white metamorphic rock substrate in the Piute Mountains and southern Sierra Nevada. It is not known to hybridize with any other species, although D. patens subsp. montanum has been collected (when both were flowering) within 1 km of D. inopinum and probably occurs much closer. Delphinium inopinum is often confused with D. parishii subsp. pallidum and superficially resembles some white-flowered individuals of D. hansenii, as well as D. gypsophilum and D. hesperium subsp. pallescens. The massive roots with prominent buds readily distinguish D. inopinum from all of these. In addition, the pubescence found on D. hansenii will separate it from the glabrous D. inopinum. Leaves are rarely seen at anthesis near the base of the stem in D. hesperium subsp. pallescens; they are present in D. inopinum. (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. Multiplex |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | D. parishii var. inopinum | |
Name authority | Piper: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 11: 280. (1906) | (Jepson) H. F. Lewis & Epling: Brittonia 8: 11. (1954) |
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