''Delphinium exaltatum'', known by the common name tall larkspur, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''

Delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (biology), family Ranunculaceae, native plant, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. Th ...

'', part of the

buttercup family Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 species), ''Delphinium' ...

. Other ''Delphinium'' species are also commonly known as tall larkspur, such as ''

Delphinium barbeyi ''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 o ...

''. ''D. exaltatum'' is native to the central and eastern United States, where it can be found in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. ''D. exaltatum'' is a perennial herb producing a stem up to tall from a long, thick

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproo ...

. 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 An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

of up to 30 flowers. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are any shade of dull blue to purple or lavender, or occasionally white. The fruit is a follicle roughly a centimeter long. This species occupies wooded areas and

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

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 Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, sometimes with

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

. It may grow on

amphibolite Amphibolite () is a metamorphic rock that contains amphibole, especially hornblende and actinolite, as well as plagioclase feldspar, but with little or no quartz. It is typically dark-colored and dense, with a weakly foliated or schistose (flaky ...

diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-graine ...

. 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'', the staghorn sumac, is a species of flowering plant in the family Anacardiaceae, native to eastern North America. It is primarily found in southeastern Canada, the northeastern and midwestern United States, and the Appalachian M ...

(''Rhus typhina'') in Maryland;

barren strawberry Barren strawberry is a common name for several plants which may refer to: * ''Potentilla'', or in particular ''Potentilla sterilis'', native to Europe * ''Waldsteinia fragarioides ''Waldsteinia fragarioides'' ( syn. ''Dalibarda fragarioides'' ...

(''Waldsteinia fragarioides''), fourleaf milkweed (''Asclepias quadrifolia''), eastern leatherwood (''Dirca palustris''), and prairie trillium (''Trillium recurvatum'') in Missouri; upland bentgrass (''Agrostis perennans''),

orchard grass ''Dactylis'' is a genus of Eurasian and North African plants in the bluegrass subfamily within the grass family. ''Dactylis'' is native to North Africa, they are found throughout the world, and are an invasive species. They are known in English ...

(''Dactylis glomerata''), mountain oatgrass (''Danthonia compressa''), Philadelphia lily (''Lilium philadelphicum''),

timothy-grass Timothy (''Phleum pratense'') is an abundant perennial grass native to most of Europe except for the Mediterranean region. It is also known as timothy-grass, meadow cat's-tail or common cat's tail. It is a member of the genus ''Phleum'', consis ...

(''Phleum pratense''), three-toothed cinquefoil (''Sibbaldiopsis tridentata''), and

self-heal ''Prunella'' is a genus of herbaceous plants in the family Lamiaceae, also known as self-heals, heal-all, or allheal for their use in herbal medicine. Habitat Most are native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but ''Prunella vulgaris'' (common ...

(''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. Like most other ''Delphinium'' species, this plant is toxic, containing several poisonous

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s. Every part of the plant is poisonous, especially the seeds. 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 Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and development has consumed habitat.

Fire suppression Wildfire suppression is a range of firefighting tactics used to suppress wildfires. Firefighting efforts in wild land areas require different techniques, equipment, and training from the more familiar structure fire fighting found in populated a ...

is also a threat; the loss of a natural

fire regime A fire regime is the pattern, frequency, and intensity of the bushfires and wildfires that prevail in an area over long periods of time. It is an integral part of fire ecology, and renewal for certain types of ecosystems. A fire regime describes th ...

has allowed overgrowth and encroachment of competing vegetation, pushing this native plant out.

Livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

causes habitat disturbance, such as soil compaction, in some areas. Road building,

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

ing, and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

are factors.

Pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

use can reduce populations of the essential insect

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s of this species. While the plant can tolerate some disturbance, as evidenced by its ability to thrive along roadsides, it cannot withstand

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

. Management activities for the conservation of ''D. exaltatum'' include

controlled burn A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

s 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.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15371683 exaltatum