Delphinium Glareosum, Rockslide Larkspur

Day 291: Every wildflower season, there are always a few names I forget. Usually it's because I have nothing with which to associate them, like the infamous "smithii" of taxonomic shame. I get as far as "Delphinium" with this one ("Larkspur" in common reference), but the second half of the binomial invariably eludes me. I never bothered to look up the source Latin for "glareosum" until this morning, but had I done, it would have linked the common and scientific names forever in my mind. "Glareosum" means "gravelly." We commonly call it "Rockslide Larkspur." Gravel or rocks, whichever you choose to call its preferred habitat, the name now makes sense. You'll find it in the subalpine zone, its intense blue lighting up grey scree fields and pediments, even putting to shame the Mountain Bluebirds who frequent the same regions. Each floret comes with its own bee, i.e., the black-and-white center typical in most Delphinium species. Young leaves are reddish-purple, turning green as they mature in sunlight.

Delphinium Glareosum, Rockslide Larkspur

Day 277: No rarity here, just a blue that'll knock your socks off! Rivalling Gentian and Monkshood for intensity of colour, Rockslide Larkspur (Delphinium glareosum) puts on a rather weedy but spectacular show, its flowers loosely arranged in an open inflorescence rising up to 30 inches above fan-shaped, mostly basal leaves. A cousin to "garden-variety" Delphiniums, this Larkspur's central "bee" provides our botany lesson for today.

As a generalization, flowers are comprised of four whorls: the calyx, the petals, the stamens (filament and anther) and the stigma/style/ovary. Not all flowers contain all these elements, and when one is lacking, they are referred to as "incomplete." In the case of Larkspur, its petals are white (the second whorl) and its sepals (segments of the calyx) are blue (the outer whorl). Its reproductive parts are concealed by the petals, a factor which limits the types of insect which can pollinate the plant. Only bugs of a specific size/shape or the deft tongue of a hummingbird can penetrate its "inner sanctum" to ensure future generations of this blue beauty.

Rockslide Larkspur, Delphinium Glareosum

Day 280: Another vibrantly blue flower you may encounter in the high country, Larkspur is a smaller cousin to the towering Delphiniums of your grandmother's garden. Like those Delphiniums, a pink or lavender colour variation can be found occasionally. Of the hundreds of plants we observed on Chinook Pass two days ago, only one pink specimen was noted. Delphinium glareosum grows to a height of approximately twelve inches, and bears several blossoms on each stem.