Global InformationDelphinium glaucum information
| Delphinium glaucum | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Delphinium |
| Species: | D. glaucum
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| Binomial name | |
| Delphinium glaucum S.Watson
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| Synonyms | |
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Delphinium glaucum, known by the common names Sierra larkspur, mountain larkspur, and glaucous larkspur, is a species of wildflower in the genus Delphinium, which belongs to the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is native to western North America from Arizona to Alaska, growing in moist mountainous environments such as riverbanks and meadows.
Although Ewan, in his survey of North American Delphinium,[1] treated D. glaucum and D. brownii as two separate species, some taxonomists now seem inclined to treat D. brownii as a local form of D. glaucum.[2][3] However, the matter does not yet appear to be completely resolved.[4][5]
D. glaucum is a "tall" larkspur, which sprouts from one to several tall, stout, pale green erect stems which may approach 3 metres (9.8 ft) in height. The lobed leaves are generally found only at the base of the plant. The top of the stem is a large inflorescence which may itself be over 1 metre (3.3 ft) long. It usually contains over fifty widely spaced flowers, with each flower on a pedicel a few centimeters long. The sepals are flat and extend to the sides or point forward. The sepals and petals are dark blue to deep purple, although the top two petals may be lighter in color to almost white. They may be somewhat wrinkly. The spur is about two centimeters long.
Larkspurs have long been associated with livestock poisoning in North America,[2] and D. glaucum (under the name D. brownii) has caused problems in the rangelands of Alberta, in western Canada.[6]
- ^ J. Ewan (1945), University of Colorado Studies, Series D. Physical and Biological Sciences 2 55–244.
- ^ a b J. D. Olsen and G. D. Manners (1989). In Toxicants of Plant Origin, Vol. 1, (P. R. Cheeke, Ed.), pp. 291–326, Boca Raton: CRC Press.
- ^ J. Looman (1984) Can. Field-Nat. 98 345-361. (Accessed through: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/89187)
- ^ K. E. Panter et al. (2002) Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 30 113–128.
- ^ S. E. Welsh and M. H. Ralphs (2002) Biochem. Syst. Ecol. 30 103–112.
- ^ V. N. Aiyar, M. H. Benn, T. Hanna, J. Jacyno, S. H. Roth and J. L. Wilkens (1979) Experientia 35 1367–1368.