Delphinium bicolor Nutt. ssp. novum 



(Ranunculaceae) 



Limestone larkspur 



A. CLASSIFICATION 



1. FAMILY: Ranunculaceae, Buttercup Family 



2. GENUS: Delphinium, the larkspur genus 



3. SPECIES: bicolor, the species epithet referring to 



4. SUBSPECIES: calcicola is the as-yet unpublished epithet given to 

 this endemic taxon (Michael J. Warnock in prep.)/ translating 

 literally as "limestone-dweller" (Calc- L. limestone; -Cola L. dwell) . 

 It is characterized in a draft manuscript of the Delphinium genus for 

 the Flora of North America project, prepared by Warnock, who will 

 publish a monograph on the taxon before the Flora is out in print. It 

 will be referred to as "subsp. novum" until this work has been 

 published. 



B. PRESENT LEGAL OR OTHER FORMAL STATUS 



1. FEDERAL STATUS 



a. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: none 



b. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: none at present; 



Proposed sensitive prior to 1993 under D. andersonii ; misapplied. 



2. STATE: This species has a state rank of "S3", indicating that it 

 is vulnerable in Montana, but not actively tracked. It is 

 considered as a taxon of limited distribution, of biogeographic 

 significance. 



C. DESCRIPTION 



1. GENERAL NONTECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Limestone larkspur is a 



perennial herb 1-4 dm tall originating from a root system which 

 is not hollow. The leaves are mostly in lower 1/3 of stem, round 

 outline with many lobes, glabrous to faintly pubescent. The 

 large, showy blue flowers are on long, spreading pedicels, and 

 are irregular with the large sepals flaring in front and the 

 upper one producing a prominent spur in back (Figure 1) . The 

 petals are smaller than the sepals, and the upper are usually 

 blue-tipped, sometimes solid white, without pigmented veins. 

 There are usually three pistils, which develop into the diverging 

 fruits (after Vanderhorst and Lesica 1994) . 



