Delphinium drepanocentrum
(Bruehl ex Huth) Munz in J. Arn. Arb. 49: 94, f.
13L. 1968. D. altissimum Wallich var. drepanocentrum Bruehl exHuth in Bot. Jahrb. 20: 419. 1895. D. altissimum Wallich subsp. drepanocentrun (Bruehl ex Huth) Bruehl &
King in Ann. R. Bot. Gard. Calc. 5: 101. 1896. D. umbrosum Hand.-Mazz. subsp.
drepanocentrum (Bruehl) Chowdhury ex Mukerjee in Bull. Bot. Surv. India 2: 295. 1961.
Perennial herbs, woody at base; stems up to 60 cm high, simple, pubescent with
deflexed yellowish or brownish hairs. Basal leaves absent at anthesis; cauline leaves with
5 -
20 cm long soft-hairy petioles; lamina somewhat pentagonal with a deep sinus at base,
3 -
5-lobed up to 1 -
2 cm from base, rather long hairy above and on nerves· beneath,
gradually reduced upwards, becoming trifoliolate 2 -
3 cm long bracts in inflorescence;
lobes broad rhombic, cuneate at base, further shallowly divided into 3 lobules. Inflorescence racemose, up to 30 cm long, 5 - 20 flowered, more or less retrorse-hairy and
glandular; upper bracts linear to lanceolate, 1 -
2 cm long; pedicels erect, 1 -
4 cm long;
bracteoles linear, subulate, 7 -
8 mm long, ca 1 mm wide, subtending the flower. Sepals mauve to dull purple, coarsely appressed hairy; upper sepal ovate, 12 -
15 x 8 -
10 mm,
obtuse; spur 20 -
25 mm long, ca 2.5 mm wide at base, narrowed to apex, downwardly
curved into a half-circle or merely decurved-spreading; lower sepals oblong-elliptic,
10 - 11 mm long, ca 5 mm wide, rounded at tip. Petals bluish; upper petal slightly oblique,
ca 9 x 2.5 mm, glabrous, pointed; spur slender, ca 20 mm long; lower lamina oblong, 6 -
7 x 3 -
4 mm, bifid for about 4 mm into 2 linear-lanceolate lobes, bearded at tips; the claw
ca 5 mm long. Stamens ca 5 mm long, glabrous; anthers dark, ca 1 mm long. Follicles
3, 15 -
18 mm long, ca 3 mm wide, somewhat hairy; seeds obovoid, angled, scarcely 1 mm
long with transverse rows of brownish scales.
Fl. & Fr. July - Aug.
Distrib. India: Alpine open and bushy slopes, 3500 - 5000 m. Sikkim.
Nepal and Bhutan.
Fl. & Fr. July - Aug.
Distrib. India: Alpine open and bushy slopes, 3500 - 5000 m. Sikkim.
Nepal and Bhutan.