Habit: Perennial herb; root generally < 10 cm, +- fibrous or fleshy; rootstock buds in life generally obscure (0 or obscure on herbarium specimens).
Stem: erect, generally 1, generally unbranched; base generally +- as wide as, generally firmly attached to root, generally +- red or purple.
Leaf: simple, basal and cauline, petioled; blades generally palmately lobed, deep lobes generally 3--5, generally < 6 mm wide, generally also lobed; cauline proximal generally dry, generally 0 in flower, distal merging into bracts.
Inflorescence: raceme or +- branched, terminal; flowers generally 10--25; pedicels generally +- spreading.
Flower: bilateral; sepals 5, petal-like, generally spreading, generally +- dark blue, uppermost spurred; petals 4, << sepals, upper 2 with nectar-secreting spurs enclosed in uppermost sepal, lower 2 clawed, with blades (limbs) generally 4--8 mm, 2-lobed, generally +- perpendicular to claws, generally colored like sepals, generally obviously hairy especially on lobes proximally, inner and outer lobes of each blade generally equally hairy; pistils 3(5).
Fruit: follicles 3(5), erect, length generally 2.5--4 × width.
Seed: generally winged in youth, collar inflated at widest end or generally not, dark brown to black, generally appearing white; coat cell margins generally straight.
Species In Genus: +- 300 species: arctic, northern temperate, subtropics, tropical mountains worldwide; 3 commonly cultivated as ornamental in North America.
Etymology: (Latin: dolphin, from bud shape)
Toxicity: Most species highly TOXIC, attractive to, killing many cattle, fewer horses, sheep.
Note: Hybrids common, especially in disturbed places. Root length is of coarse parts only.
Jepson eFlora Author: Jason A. Koontz & Michael J. Warnock
Unabridged Reference: Lewis & Epling 1954 Brittonia 8:1--22Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)Key to Delphinium
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