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Delphinium
nuttallianum (Larkspur,
Dwarf Larkspur) Foothills, montane. Meadows.
Spring, early summer. In the early spring D. barbeyi’s much smaller cousin D. nuttallianum, the violet-blue Larkspur (the spur on the rear of the flower is a key to identifying Delphiniums), appears up to 9,500 foot elevations in solitary patches in open woods and also in massive arrays in foothill and mountain meadows. Delphinium nuttallianum commonly produces two, short, deeply dissected leaves early in the spring and then puts up a 6-to-12 inch leafless flower stalk. By the time the flowers are fully opened, as in the picture at left, the basal leaves are often withered: the lower arrows point to the dried, buff-colored leaves at the bottom of the stalk. The two upper arrows point to the green star-burst shaped seed pods. Linnaeus named this genus in 1753. "Delphinium" is from the Latin "delphinus", "Dolphin", for the resemblance of the flower buds to Dolphins. (Click to see the Dolphins.) In 1843 Pritzel named this species for Thomas Nuttall, the highly praised 19th century botanist, explorer, and Harvard Professor. (More biographical information.) |
