Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
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| Little larkspur flower. Creative Commons image by Matt Lavin. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Matthews, Robin F. 1993. Delphinium bicolor. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/delbic/all.html [].
Revisions : On 26 June 2017, the common name of this species was changed from: low larkspur
to: little larkspur.
ABBREVIATION :
DELBIC
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
SCS PLANT CODE :
DEBI
COMMON NAMES :
little larkspur
low larkspur
montane larkspur
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of little larkspur is Delphinium
bicolor Nutt. It is in the family Ranunculaceae [5,8,9,10,12]. There
are no recognized subspecies, varieties, or forms.
LIFE FORM :
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Little larkspur is distributed from Alberta and Saskatchewan south through
northeastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, western North Dakota, western
South Dakota, western Nebraska, and Wyoming [8,9,10,12].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir - spruce
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES37 Mountain meadows
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES44 Alpine
STATES :
ID MT NE ND SD WA WY AB SK
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
5 Columbia Plateau
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
15 Black Hills Uplift
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K012 Douglas-fir forest
K015 Western spruce - fir forest
K016 Eastern ponderosa forest
K017 Black Hills pine forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K037 Mountain-mahogany - oak scrub
K052 Alpine meadows and barren
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K056 Wheatgrass - needlegrass shrubsteppe
K063 Foothills prairie
K064 Grama - needlegrass - wheatgrass
K066 Wheatgrass - needlegrass
SAF COVER TYPES :
206 Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
210 Interior Douglas-fir
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
237 Interior ponderosa pine
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Little larkspur is utilized by elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn,
upland game birds, small nongame birds, and small mammals [4].
Little larkspur is very poisonous to cattle [12].
PALATABILITY :
The palatability of little larkspur is rated fair for sheep and poor to
fair for cattle and horses [4].
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Little larkspur is poor in protein and energy value [4].
COVER VALUE :
Little larkspur provides fair cover for small nongame birds and small
mammals [4].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Larkspur species are cultivated as ornamentals [3]. Crushed larkspurs
were used by Native Americans for controlling lice and other insects [17].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Little larkspur is toxic to cattle and causes some losses in the spring and
early summer. However, it dries rapidly and senesces after seed set.
It is, therefore, probably safe to graze after seed set [3,14,17,18].
Little larkspur is less toxic and more palatable to sheep than cattle. It
is considered fairly good forage for sheep [3,18].
Little larkspur increases in response to grazing [20].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Little larkspur is a native, perennial forb with an extensively branched
fibrous to slightly fleshy root system. Stems are usually solitary and
are 4 to 16 inches (10-40 cm) tall. Fruits are many-seeded follicles.
Seeds are irregularly winged and about 0.08 inches (0.2 cm) long
[8,9,10,12].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Hemicryptophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Little larkspur mainly reproduces by seed [17]. It is pollinated by bees,
and probably self-pollinates as well [1]. Little larkspur may reproduce
vegetatively [4].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Little larkspur is found on sites ranging from open woods and grasslands to
subalpine scree [5,9,10,12]. It appears early in the spring, often at
the edges of receding snowbanks [3,18]. Little larkspur will grow in
fairly dry to moist conditions [3,4,18]. It grows best in rich, black,
sandy loams or clay loams and in soils of limestone or granitic origin
[3,4]. It is found on gentle to steep slopes. Little larkspur is found at
elevations of 4,600 to 11,600 feet (1,400-3,500 m) in Wyoming and 3,000
to 10,500 feet (900-3,200 m) in Montana [4].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Little larkspur prefers sites with full sun exposure [18]. It colonizes
recently disturbed sites [4] and is often found on gravel banks and
along roadcuts [8]. On alpine tundra sites of the Beartooth Plateau,
Montana, little larkspur is associated with natural ground disturbance,
such as areas of rodent activity [1].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Little larkspur begins growth as soon as snow melts in the spring. It
flowers from June to July [17].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Information on adaptations of little larkspur for survival following fire
is not available in the literature. Larkspur species seeds may survive
in the soil seedbank [18]. If little larkspur reproduces vegetatively [4],
it may sprout after fire.
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Little larkspur is probably killed by most fires.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Information regarding the response of little larkspur following fire is
lacking in available literature. Little larkspur was present in postfire
years 1 and 3 following an August wildfire in ponderosa pine (Pinus
ponderosa) stands in Idaho [13].
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Delphinium bicolor
REFERENCES :
1. Bauer, Paul J. 1983. Bumblebee pollination relationships on the
Beartooth Plateau tundra of southern Montana. American Journal of
Botany. 70(1): 134-144. [12962]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Dayton, William A. 1960. Notes on western range forbs: Equisetaceae
through Fumariaceae. Agric. Handb. 161. Washington, DC: U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Forest Service. 254 p. [767]
4. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information
network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and
Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
5. Dorn, Robert D. 1988. Vascular plants of Wyoming. Cheyenne, WY: Mountain
West Publishing. 340 p. [6129]
6. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
7. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
8. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains.
Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 1392 p. [1603]
9. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1964. Vascular plants of the
Pacific Northwest. Part 2: Salicaceae to Saxifragaceae. Seattle, WA:
University of Washington Press. 597 p. [1166]
10. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1973. Flora of the Pacific
Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
11. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
12. Lackschewitz, Klaus. 1991. Vascular plants of west-central
Montana--identification guidebook. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-227. Ogden, UT:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research
Station. 648 p. [13798]
13. Merrill, Evelyn H.; Mayland, Henry F.; Peek, James M. 1980. Effects of a
fall wildfire on herbaceous vegetation on xeric sites in the
Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Idaho. Journal of Range Management. 33(5):
363-367. [1642]
14. Ralphs, M.H.; Olsen, J.D.; Pfister, J.A.; Manners, G.D. 1988.
Plant-animal interactions in larkspur poisoning in cattle. Journal of
Animal Science. 66(9): 2334-2342. [6634]
15. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
16. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
17. Stubbendieck, J.; Hatch, Stephan L.; Hirsch, Kathie J. 1986. North
American range plants. 3rd ed. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska
Press. 465 p. [2270]
18. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 1937. Range plant
handbook. Washington, DC. 532 p. [2387]
19. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
20. Wambolt, Carl. 1981. Montana range plants: Common and scientific names.
Bulletin 355. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University, Cooperative
Extension Service. 27 p. [2450]
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