Flora of North America species comparison

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Delphinium nuttallii

Nuttall's larkspur, upland larkspur
Stems

20-60(-90) cm;

base usually reddish, pubescent.
Leaves

blade round to reniform, 2-8 × 3-14 cm, pubescent; ultimate lobes 5-18, width 4-7 mm (basal), 1-5 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2.
Inflorescences

5-25(-40)-flowered, at least 2 times longer than wide;

pedicel 1.5-4(-9) cm, puberulent;

bracteoles 2-3 mm from flowers, green, linear, 4-6 mm, puberulent.
Flowers

sepals bluish purple to yellowish, (± drab), often partly fading upon drying, puberulent, lateral sepals ± spreading, 8-11 × 3-6 mm, spurs straight, slightly ascending, 9-13 mm;

lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 4-6 mm, clefts 0.5-2 mm;

hairs well dispersed, mostly near margins and base of cleft, white to yellow or blue.
Fruits

10-14(-18) mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, pubescent.
Seeds

wing-margined;

seed coat cell surfaces smooth.

Delphinium nuttallii
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).

Delphinium nuttallii has often been confused with D. menziesii; it may be distinguished by consistently smaller flowers and usually more flowers per plant than in the latter. Interestingly, each species produces both blue-purple and yellowish flower colors, in separate populations.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Sepals blue or bluish purple; spur more than 10 mm.
subsp. nuttallii
1. Sepals white or light yellow; spur less than 10 mm.
subsp. ochroleucum
Source FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
D. nuttallii subsp. nuttallii, D. nuttallii subsp. ochroleucum
Name authority A. Gray: Bot. Gaz. 12: 54. (1887)
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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