Baker's larkspur

Stems (45-)60-85(-100) cm; base reddish, glabrous. Leaves usually all cauline at anthesis; basal leaves 0-2 at anthesis; cauline leaves 3-8 at anthesis; petiole 0.4-18 cm. Leaf blade pentagonal to round, 1-6 × 1.5-8 cm, margins crenate, glabrous; ultimate lobes 3-5, width 2-5 mm (basal), 5-30 mm (cauline), widest at middle or in proximal 1/2. Inflorescences 8-23-flowered, at least 2 times longer than wide; pedicel 1-6(-9) cm, glandular-puberulent; bracteoles 4-6 mm from flowers, green to blue, lance-linear, 5-8(-13) mm, glabrous to glandular-puberulent. Flowers: sepals dark bluish purple, nearly glabrous, lateral sepals spreading, 9-11 × 4-5 mm, spur apex decurved, ± horizontal, 9-13 mm; lower petal blades ± covering stamens, 5-7 mm, clefts 2-3 mm; hairs sparse, mostly near base of cleft, centered or on inner lobes, white. Fruits 18-20 mm, 3.5-4 times longer than wide, glabrous. Seeds unwinged; seed coats smooth.

Flowering spring. Brushlands and coastal chaparral; of conservation concern; 100-300 m; Calif.

Delphinium bakeri is possibly extinct in the wild because of cultivation and sheep grazing in the small area where it grows. It is known from only two localities and has not been collected since 1960. Plants have been grown at Strybing Arboretum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Although their geographic ranges are distinct, D . bakeri is most similar to, and probably closely related to, D . trolliifolium . The former has more rounded incisions on the leaves than the latter, and the pedicel of D . bakeri are consistently glandular. Glandular pedicel appear only occasionally in D . trolliifolium .