Organ Mountain Larkspur

Delphinium wootonii hybridizes with D . madrense in the eastern Big Bend area of Texas, and with D . carolinianum subsp. virescens .

Stems (15-)30-50(-60) cm; base sometimes reddish, pubescent. Leaves mostly on proximal 1/4 of stem at anthesis; basal leaves 0-10 at anthesis; cauline leaves 3-10 at anthesis; petiole 0.5-8(-14) cm. Leaf blade reniform to fan-shaped, 1.5-3 × 2.5-4 cm, puberulent; ultimate lobes 5-24, width 2-6 mm (basal), 1-3 mm (cauline). Inflorescences 15-30(-49)-flowered; pedicel 1-2(-3.6) cm, puberulent; bracteoles 1-5 mm from flowers, green, linear, 1-4(-12) mm, puberulent. Flowers: sepals white to lavender, nearly glabrous, lateral sepals usually reflexed, (6-)8-13 × 3-7 mm, spur straight, ascending 30-80° above horizontal, (8-)13-20(-25) mm; lower petal blades ± elevated, 6-9 mm, cleft 2.5-4.5 mm; hairs centered, densest near base of cleft, white. Fruits (10-)11-20(-24) mm, 3-3.5 times longer than wide, glabrous. Seeds: seed coat cells with surfaces pustulate. 2 n = 16.

Ariz., Colo., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila).

Flowering spring.

Oak woods, grasslands, desert scrub; 700-1800m.

Delphinium virescens Nuttall subsp. wootonii (Rydberg) Ewan