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University of California, Berkeley
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Delphinium patens

SPREADING or ZIGZAG LARKSPUR


Higher Taxonomy
Family: RanunculaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: BUTTERCUP FAMILY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, woody vine [shrub], occasionally aquatic. Leaf: generally basal and cauline, alternate or opposite, simple or compound; petioles at base generally flat, occasionally sheathing or stipule-like. Inflorescence: cyme, raceme, panicle, or flowers 1. Flower: generally bisexual, generally radial; sepals 3--6(20), free, early-deciduous or withering in fruit, generally green; petals 0--many, generally free; stamens generally 5--many, staminodes generally 0; pistils 1--many, ovary superior, chamber 1, style 0--1, generally +- persistent as beak, ovules 1--many. Fruit: achene, follicle, berry, +- utricle in Trautvetteria, in aggregate or not, 1--many-seeded.
Genera In Family: +- 60 genera, 1700 species: worldwide, especially northern temperate, tropical mountains; many ornamental (Adonis, Aquilegia, Clematis, Consolida, Delphinium, Helleborus, Nigella). Toxicity: some highly TOXIC (Aconitum, Actaea, Delphinium, Ranunculus). Note: Taxa of Isopyrum in TJM (1993) moved to Enemion; Kumlienia moved to Ranunculus.
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax & Dieter H. Wilken, family description, key to genera
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: DelphiniumView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: LARKSPUR
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.
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.
eFlora Treatment Author: Jason A. Koontz & Michael J. Warnock
Unabridged Reference: Lewis & Epling 1954 Brittonia 8:1--22
Delphinium patens Benth.
NATIVE
Habit: Root +- ellipsoid to diffuse-fibrous. Stem: base generally narrower than root, not firmly attached, +- glabrous. Leaf: generally on lower 1/3 of stem, +- glabrous; terminal lobe widest near middle. Inflorescence: pedicels 10--78 mm, generally > 10 mm apart. Flower: sepals reflexed, bright or dark blue. Fruit: 12--23 mm, +- curved. Seed: smooth, shiny, collar inflated.

Jepson eFlora Author: Jason A. Koontz & Michael J. Warnock
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Delphinium parryi subsp. purpureum
Next taxon: Delphinium patens subsp. hepaticoideum


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Citation for this treatment: Jason A. Koontz & Michael J. Warnock 2012, Delphinium patens, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=22507, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 03, 2024.

Delphinium patens
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©2011 Barry Rice
Delphinium patens subsp. patens
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©2009 Barry Breckling
Delphinium patens
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©2007 George W. Hartwell
Delphinium patens
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©2008 George W. Hartwell
Delphinium patens
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©2016 Barry Breckling

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Geographic subdivisions for Delphinium patens:
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).