''Delphinium treleasei'', commonly known as named glade larkspur or Trelease's larkspur, is a perennial flowering plant found it temperate areas of the eastern United States. It is native to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

where it is often situated in

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

glades but is not common in North America. It is endemic to Ozark highlands in eight southwestern Missouri counties and eight counties in northwestern Arkansas. ''D. treleasei'' is a vascular, seed plant, part of the buttercup family (

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

). The name ''Delphinium treleasei'' originates from the Greek "''delphis''" which means dolphin in reference to the flower shape of many buttercups and the specific epithet "''treleasei''" honors

William Trelease William Trelease (February 22, 1857 – January 1, 1945) was an American botanist, entomologist, explorer, writer and educator. This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Trel. when citing a botanical name. Trelease was born in Moun ...

who was director of the Missouri Botanical Garden from 1889 to 1912.

Description

''Delphinium treleasei'' grows tall and has loose, terminal racemes of blue to blush-purple flowers. These bloom in spring, usually May to June. Flowers are long, comples, asymmetrical and have five sepals, one is spurred in to a prong that coined the common name, Larkspur. Inflorescences have 5-30 flowers. Deep green leaves are narrowly and deeply divided, pedate in shape, and mostly basal. All parts of this plant are poisonous if ingested.

Habitat

''Delphinium treleasei'' natural habitat is open juniper glades on calcareous substrate.

Conservation

''Delphinium treleasei'' is locally abundant but is endemic and limited by microhabitat in its distribution range. It is vulnerable to

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

. There are no current actions for conservation and ''D. treleasei'' is unlisted.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15373207 treleasei Flora of Missouri Flora of Arkansas Plants described in 1900