Delphinium alpestre

Rydberg

Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 29: 146. 1902.

Common names: Alpine larkspur
Conservation concernEndemic
Synonyms: Delphinium ramosum var. alpestre (Rydberg) W. A. Weber
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 3.

Stems 5-25 cm; base green, puberulent. Leaves cauline, 5-20, on proximal 1/5 of stem at anthesis; petiole 1-10 cm. Leaf blade round to pentagonal, 1.5-5 × 2-5 cm, puberulent; ultimate lobes 3-15, width 2-11 mm. Inflorescences 2-8-flowered; pedicel 1-4 cm, puberulent; bracteoles 1-3 mm from flowers, green, linear-lanceolate, 6-10 mm, puberulent. Flowers: 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 7-12 mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, puberulent. Seeds unwinged; seed coat cells elongate, surface roughened.


Phenology: Flowering mid-late summer.
Habitat: Exposed talus slopes on high peaks
Elevation: (3400-)3800 m and above

Discussion

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.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Delphinium alpestre"
Michael J. Warnock +
Rydberg +
Alpine larkspur +
Colo. +  and N.Mex. +
(3400-)3800 m and above +
Exposed talus slopes on high peaks +
Flowering mid-late summer. +
Bull. Torrey Bot. Club +
Conservation concern +  and Endemic +
Delphinium ramosum var. alpestre +
Delphinium alpestre +
Delphinium subsect. Exaltata +
species +