Delphinium patens
Encyclopedia
Delphinium patens is a species of larkspur
known by the common names zigzag larkspur and spreading larkspur. It is a wildflower limited mainly to California
. Plants grow typically 20 to 50 centimeters tall and bear up to 36 flowers each. The stems are mostly hairless, have reddish bases, and bears leaves on the lower half. Each leaf is divided into 3 to 9 lobes. The flower has dark blue sepal
s, the latter ones reflexed. The spur at the back of the flower is 4 to 8 millimeters long. The cleft at the center of the flower has white or yellowish scattered hairs. The elongated fruit is one or two centimeters long and contains pitted seeds.
There are three subspecies:
Delphinium patens hybridizes freely with a few other species in Delphinium section Grumosa in the wild.
Delphinium
Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The common name, larkspur, is shared with the closely related genus Consolida...
known by the common names zigzag larkspur and spreading larkspur. It is a wildflower limited mainly to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Plants grow typically 20 to 50 centimeters tall and bear up to 36 flowers each. The stems are mostly hairless, have reddish bases, and bears leaves on the lower half. Each leaf is divided into 3 to 9 lobes. The flower has dark blue sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s, the latter ones reflexed. The spur at the back of the flower is 4 to 8 millimeters long. The cleft at the center of the flower has white or yellowish scattered hairs. The elongated fruit is one or two centimeters long and contains pitted seeds.
There are three subspecies:
- Delphinium patens subsp. hepaticoideum
- Delphinium patens subsp. montanum
- Delphinium patens subsp. patens
Delphinium patens hybridizes freely with a few other species in Delphinium section Grumosa in the wild.