Delphinium exaltatum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Ranunculaceae |
Genus: | Delphinium |
Species: | D. exaltatum |
Binomial name | |
Delphinium exaltatum | |
Delphinium exaltatum, known by the common name tall larkspur, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Delphinium , part of the buttercup family. [1] [2] Other Delphinium species are also commonly known as tall larkspur, such as Delphinium barbeyi . D. exaltatum is native to the central and eastern United States, where it can be found in Kentucky, [1] Maine, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri. [2]
D. exaltatum is a perennial herb producing a stem up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) tall from a long, thick taproot. The base of the stem may have a reddish tinge and it is free of leaves by the time the plant blooms. The leaves are somewhat circular or pentagonal in outline and are divided into a few wedge-shaped lobes. The leaf blade is borne on a petiole up to 15 centimeters long. Flowering occurs between July and September. The inflorescence is a raceme of up to 30 flowers. The sepals are any shade of dull blue to purple or lavender, or occasionally white. The fruit is a follicle roughly a centimeter long. [1] [2]
This species occupies wooded areas and prairie habitat and tolerates sunny and shady areas. It grows on slopes facing most any direction. The substrate is often rocky, with calcareous stone such as limestone, sometimes with chert. It may grow on amphibolite or diabase. It withstands an amount of disturbance and can persist in disturbed habitat remnants such as road cuts, ditches, fence rows, and fields. Associated plant species include upland boneset (Eupatorium sessilifolium) and staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) in Maryland; barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides), fourleaf milkweed (Asclepias quadrifolia), eastern leatherwood (Dirca palustris), and prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum) in Missouri; upland bentgrass (Agrostis perennans), orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata), mountain oatgrass (Danthonia compressa), Philadelphia lily (Lilium philadelphicum), timothy-grass (Phleum pratense), three-toothed cinquefoil (Sibbaldiopsis tridentata), and self-heal (Prunella vulgaris) in North Carolina; eastern green violet (Hybanthus concolor), American bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia), and yellow horse gentian (Triosteum angustifolium) in Pennsylvania; and barrelhead gayfeather (Liatris cylindracea), Chinese bushclover (Lespedeza cuneata), smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve), eastern smooth beardtongue (Penstemon laevigatus), downy skullcap (Scutellaria incana), and hoary puccoon (Lithospermum canescens) in Tennessee. [2]
Like most other Delphinium species, this plant is toxic, containing several poisonous alkaloids. [3] Every part of the plant is poisonous, [4] especially the seeds. [3]
This species can be found in many places across the eastern half of the United States and there are over 100 occurrences; however, most populations are small, with no more than 50 individuals. The main threat to the species is habitat loss. Agriculture and development has consumed habitat. Fire suppression is also a threat; the loss of a natural fire regime has allowed overgrowth and encroachment of competing vegetation, pushing this native plant out. Livestock causes habitat disturbance, such as soil compaction, in some areas. Road building, quarrying, and logging are factors. Pesticide use can reduce populations of the essential insect pollinators of this species. While the plant can tolerate some disturbance, as evidenced by its ability to thrive along roadsides, it cannot withstand habitat destruction. [2]
Management activities for the conservation of D. exaltatum include controlled burns and other vegetation-clearing methods. Insect pollinators should be protected. The habitat should be preserved, with no logging, grazing, road construction, or other destructive forces. Transplanting propagated individuals into the habitat has been successful. [2]
Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The genus was erected by Carl Linnaeus.
A calcareous glade is a type of ecological community that is found in the central Eastern United States. Calcareous glades occur where bedrock such as limestone occurs near or at the surface, and have very shallow and little soil development. Due to the shallow soil and the extreme conditions created by it, trees are often unable to grow in the glades. This creates a habitat that is usually sunny, dry, and hot. Calcareous glade vegetation is more similar to that of a desert habitat than a grassland, being dominated by small spring annuals with occasional geophytic or succulent perennials.
Delphinium cardinale is a species of larkspur known by the common names scarlet larkspur and cardinal larkspur. This wildflower is native to California and Baja California, where it grows on coastal, inland, and desert chaparral slopes, such as the Colorado Desert, and the Peninsular and Transverse Ranges. The presence of diterpenoid alkaloids, probably including the highly toxic methyllycaconitine, in above-ground parts of D. cardinale means that they are likely to be toxic if ingested.
Trillium recurvatum, the prairie trillium, toadshade, or bloody butcher, is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to parts of central and eastern United States, where it is found from Iowa south to Texas and east to North Carolina and Pennsylvania. It grows in mesic forests and savannas, often in calcareous soils. It is also known as bloody noses, red trillium, prairie wake-robin, purple trillium, and reflexed trillium, in reference to its reflexed sepals. T. recurvatum is a host plant as well as food source for several insects and mammals.
Liatris ohlingerae is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common names Florida blazing star, Florida gayfeather, scrub blazing star, and sandtorch. It is endemic to Florida in the United States, where it occurs only on the Lake Wales Ridge along with many other rare plants. It is threatened by the loss and degradation of its habitat, and it is federally listed as an endangered species.
Physaria filiformis is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Missouri bladderpod and limestone glade bladderpod. It is native to Missouri and Arkansas in the United States. It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1987 and it was downlisted to threatened status in 2003. P. filiformis remains listed as an endangered species at the state level in Missouri.
Silene spaldingii is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common names Spalding's silene, Spalding's catchfly and Spalding's campion. It is native to eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, northern Idaho and northern Montana, where its distribution extends just into British Columbia, Canada. Much of its former habitat has been converted to agriculture and its range is now limited to the last remaining stretches of pristine prairie grassland in this region. It is threatened by the degradation and loss of its remaining habitat. It is federally listed as a threatened species in the United States and it is designated endangered by Canada's COSEWIC.
Dalea purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known as purple prairie clover. Native to central North America, purple prairie clover is a relatively common member of the Great Plains and prairie ecosystems. It blooms in the summer with dense spikes of bright purple flowers that attract many species of insects.
Chrysosplenium iowense is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common name Iowa golden-saxifrage. It is native to North America, where it is "primarily a Canadian species", occurring from the northern Northwest Territories south to British Columbia and east to Manitoba. There are also disjunct, relictual occurrences within the United States, in the Driftless Area of Minnesota and Iowa.
Delphinium pavonaceum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name peacock larkspur. It is endemic to Oregon in the United States, where it is limited to the Willamette Valley.
Delphinium viridescens is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name Wenatchee larkspur. It is endemic to central Washington state in the United States, where it occurs in the Wenatchee Mountains in Chelan and Kittitas Counties.
Silene regia is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae known by the common name royal catchfly. It is native to the central United States. A perennial herb, it grows from a fleshy taproot and has several erect stems growing up to 1.6 meters tall. The leaves are lance-shaped to oval and up to 12 centimeters (4.7 in) long, becoming smaller farther up the stem. The inflorescence is an array of many flowers at the top of the stem. The elongate tubular calyx of sepals is up to 2.5 centimeters (0.98 in) long and has 10 longitudinal veins. The lobes of the bright red corolla are 1 to 2 centimeters long.
Delphinium tricorne, known by the common names dwarf larkspur or spring larkspur, is a species of flowering plant in the Ranunculaceae (buttercup) family. It is native to the central and eastern United States, where it is the most common Delphinium found.
Delphinium robustum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names Wahatoya Creek larkspur and robust larkspur. It is native to Colorado and New Mexico in the United States.
Asclepias sullivantii is a species of flowering plant in the milkweed genus, Asclepias. Common names include prairie milkweed, Sullivant's milkweed, and smooth milkweed. It is native to North America, where it occurs in the central United States and Ontario in Canada.
Delphinium barbeyi is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names subalpine larkspur, tall larkspur, and Barbey's larkspur. It is native to the interior western United States, where it occurs in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
The Canadian Aspen Forests and Parklands is one of 844 terrestrial ecoregions defined by One Earth. This ecoregion includes parts of the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, north-central and eastern North Dakota, most of east South Dakota, and north-central Nebraska in the American Great Plains. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines this ecoregion as the Northern Glaciated Plains.
Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, commonly known as skyblue aster and azure aster, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to eastern North America.
Delphinium treleasei, commonly known as named glade larkspur or Trelease's larkspur, is a perennial flowering plant found it temperate areas of the eastern United States. It is native to Missouri and Arkansas where it is often situated in limestone glades but is not common in North America. It is endemic to Ozark highlands in eight southwestern Missouri counties and eight counties in northwestern Arkansas. D. treleasei is a vascular, seed plant, part of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). The name Delphinium treleasei originates from the Greek "delphis" which means dolphin in reference to the flower shape of many buttercups and the specific epithet "treleasei" honors William Trelease who was director of the Missouri Botanical Garden from 1889 to 1912.
Delphinium geyeri is a species of plant in the Ranunculaceae family that is often called by the common names plains larkspur and foothills larkspur. It is infamous for causing the deaths of cattle grazing in the spring because it is especially poisonous before it flowers and so it is also called poisonweed by ranchers. It is a medium to tall plant that has very striking blue flowers and is occasionally grown in native plant gardens for this reason. It grows mainly in Wyoming with large population in northern Colorado, northeastern Utah, and parts of Nebraska.