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  Papaveraceae : Argemone polyanthemos

  R Neil Reese

  Argemone polyanthemos is an annual to biennial plant with one to a few stems growing from a taproot. Plants vary greatly in size from 0.25 to 1.25 m in height with stems 7-20 mm in diameter. The stems are waxy with few to many yellowish prickles. The leaves are waxy with the upper surface smooth to bearing scattered prickles on the veins, with more prickles on the lower surface. The lower leaves are oblanceolate, deeply pinnately lobed, 7-25 cm long by 3-10 cm wide. The lobes are elliptical to obovate with undulating irregularly spiney-toothed margins and the petioles are winged. The leaves are reduced and become less lobed toward the top, but the margins are like those of the lower leaves. The flowers are 5-12 cm in diameter and are subtended by 2 bracts that are shorter than the sepals. The 3-6 yellowish sepals are 6-10 mm long. The 6-12 white petals are arranged in 2 rows, 2.5-5 cm long and nearly as wide. The center of the flower is dominated by numerous (~150) yellow stamens and the has 3-5 carpels. The fruit is a capsule 2.5-4 cm by 1-1.5 cm wide. The seeds are shiny, dark brown and round. Prickly poppy blooms from May until September. All parts of the plant have a yellow sap that stains the skin and clothing.

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  Papaveraceae : Sanguinaria canadensis

  R. Neil Reese

  Sanguinaria canadensis is a perennial herb with shallow, extensively branched rhizomes, 6-15 mm in diameter, that contain a red juice. The ends of the rhizome branches produce I leaf and 1 flower scape. At anthesis the leaf is usually shorted than the scape, but the petiole and blade rapidly expand and soon over tower the flower scape. The petiole reaches 10-35 cm in length, and the leaf blade becomes 6-20 cm long by 8-20 cm wide. The blade usually 3-7 lobed, almost circular in outline, green on top and waxy below, the margins entire to wavey. The flower forms at the end of a peduncle 5-12 cm long and has 2 rounded, membranous sepals, 2-12 mm long and 5-8 mm wide. The 8 (sometimes up to 16) white petals are oblanceolate to elliptic, 10-30 mm long and 5-12 mm wide, with 4 petals usually slightly larger than the others. The numerous stamens are up to 1 cm long with yellow anthers and the style is 2-lobed. The fruit is a spindle-shaped capsule, 3-5 cm long and 7-11 mm wide, containing ovoid, reddish brown seeds that have a prominent crest. Bloodroot blooms in late March into May on woodland slopes along the eastern edge of South Dakota.

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  Plantaginaceae : Plantago rugelii

  R. Neil Reese

  Plantago rugelii is a perennial herb growing from a short, erect caudex forming a low rosette of leaves with smooth, slender flowering stalks that can reach 35 cm in height. The leaf blades are broadly elliptic to ovate, 5-20 cm long and ½ to 2/3 as wide, narrowed at the base and rounded to pointed at the tip, with 5-9 major veins and entire to finely toothed margins. The petioles are 2-20 cm long, winged, and reddish toward the base. The inflorescence consists of 1-several terminal spikes, 5-20 cm long, sitting atop the smooth peduncle. Each flower is subtended by bracts 1.5-2.3 mm long, the 4 sepals are 2-2.5 mm long and the corolla forms a white to purple tube with 4 short lobes. The fruit is a capsule 6-8 mm long containing 4-10 black seeds. Blackseed plantain blooms from May into October in moist, often shaded woodlands and parklands along the eastern and western borders of South Dakota. This species is very similar to P. major, an introduced weed common in lawns and gardens throughout the world.

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  Polemoniaceae : Phlox pilosa

  R. Neil Reese

  Phlox pilosa is a perennial herb from a stout rootstock, with I-several branching stems with 6-12 nodes, growing 20-75 cm tall, covered with simple and/or glandular hairs. The simple, alternate, sessile leaves are narrowly lance-linear, 30-100 mm long, 3-30 mm wide and hairy, especially along the entire margins and the midvein. The inflorescence is a panicle with up to 100 flowers with pedicels usually les than 10 mm long and covered with glandular hairs. The calyx is 8-15 mm long, the tube and 5 lobes about equal in length and covered with glandular hairs. The white, pink or purple corollas have a tube 8-16 mm long with 5 reflexed oblanceolate to obovate lobes 10-12 mm long and 6-8 mm wide. The style is 3-lobed and 1-3 mm long. the fruit is an ovoid capsule. Prairie phlox blooms from May into July in open woods and meadows in eastern South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae : Eriogonum annuum

  R. Neil Reese

  Eriogonum annuum is an annual to biennial herb with 1 to a few erect, simple to branched stems, 10-100 cm tall and covered with silver-gray hairs. The plants start with a few, short-lived, simple, oblanceolate basal leaves, 2-5 cm long. The alternate, petiolate cauline leaves appear similar to the basal leaves, with most of them toward the base of the stem. The inflorescence is a terminal cyme, often with smaller cymes at the ends of the lower branches. The open cymes have a helicoid, bi or trichotomous branching pattern. The flowers are subtended by a sessile, membranous, calyx-like involucres that are funnel-shaped, 2.5-3 mm long, with shallow teeth. The perianth is composed of 6 white segments, sometimes with a pinkish tinge, the insides are hairy and the outer members are wider than the inner ones. There are 9 stamens and a 3 styles. The fruit are smooth achenes. Annual wild buckwheat blooms from July into September on dry, open grasslands in western and southern South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae : Eriogonum flavum

  R. Neil Reese

  Eriogonum flavum is a perennial mat-forming herb from a thick, branched, woody caudex, usually having old leaf bases attached. The oblanceolate, petiolate, basal leaves are crowded, 3-8 cm long, 3-14 mm wide, green to grayish due to hairs on the upper surface and hairy beneath. The flowering stems are leafless, 4-25 cm tall, hairy, with leaf-like bracts subtending a compound umbel inflorescence, that have hairy rays up to 3 cm long. the cymose clusters of flowers are subtended by a few reduced bracts. The flowers have a campanulate involucre that is 4-6 mm long with shallow or lacking lobes. The perianth is 6-merous, 4-6 mm long, yellow to sometimes pink tinged, with hairs on the outside, narrowed to a short pedicel-like base. There are 9 stamens and 3 styles that are all exerted from the perianth. The fruit are elongated achenes with a tuft of hair at the top. Yellow wild buckwheat bloom from May into September on dry plains and ridges in western South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae: Polygonum amphibium

  R. Neil Reese

  Polygonum amphibium is a perennial aquatic or semi-aquatic herb growing from a rhizomatous root system that allows it to spread horizontally underwater or in saturated soils. The roots are fibrous and fleshy, anchoring the plant in mud or shallow water. Stems can be either emergent or floating, reaching 30 to 90 cm in height. Leaves are alternate and variable: submerged leaves are narrow and linear, 5–15 cm long and 0.5–1 cm wide; floating or terrestrial leaves are broader, ovate to lanceolate, 7–20 cm long and 3–10 cm wide, with entire margins and petioles 2–8 cm long. The flowers are small, pink to rose-colored, clustered in dense terminal spikes blooming from July through September. Each flower has five pink to rose-colored tepals (sepals and petals not distinctly separate), 3 to 5 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide. The flower contains eight stamens with yellow anthers. The pistil has a superior ovary with three styles. Fruits develop from August through October, maturing into small, three-angled achenes about 2 to 3 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide. Water smartweed is native to South Dakota and typically found in wetlands, along lake and pond margins, slow-moving streams, and marshy areas throughout the eastern and central parts of the state.

  Synonym: Persicaria amphibia

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  Polygonaceae: Polygonum pensylvanicum

  R. Neil Reese

  Polygonum pensylvanicum is an annual herbaceous plant growing 30 to 100 cm tall from a fibrous root system. The stems are erect, often reddish, and may be branched. The leaves are alternate and petiolate, with petioles 1 to 6 cm long. Blades are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 5 to 12 cm long and 1.5 to 4 cm wide, with entire or slightly wavy margins and a smooth surface, sometimes marked with a dark spot near the middle. The flowers are small, pink to rose, densely arranged in elongated, cylindrical spikes, 2–10 cm long, blooming from July through September. Each flower has five , pink to reddish tepals about 3 to 5 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide and eight stamens with yellow anthers. The pistil has a superior ovary with three slender styles. The fruit is a small, three-angled achene about 2 to 3 mm long and 1.5 to 2 mm wide, maturing from late summer into fall. Pennsylvania smartweed is native to South Dakota and is commonly found in moist to wet habitats such as floodplains, marshes, pond edges, and ditches, especially in the eastern and central regions of the state.

  Synonym: Persicaria pensylvanica

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  Polygonaceae Rumex patientia

  R. Neil Reese

  Rumex patientia is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 50 to 150 cm tall from a thick, often reddish, creeping rootstock. Stems are erect, smooth to sparsely hairy. Leaves are alternate, broadly ovate to lanceolate, typically 15 to 40 cm long and 7 to 15 cm wide, with entire to slightly wavy margins and a pointed tip. Basal leaves have long petioles 10 to 20 cm in length; upper leaves are smaller and more lanceolate with shorter or no petioles. Leaf surfaces are smooth or sparsely hairy. The inflorescence is a large, loose panicle of many small flowers blooming from June to August. Flowers have greenish to reddish-brown tepals, usually three to six in number, each 3 to 5 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide, lanceolate to ovate, with the inner tepals often bearing a tubercle or spine-like tip. Each flower contains six stamens with filaments about 3 to 4 mm long and yellowish anthers approximately 1 to 2 mm long. Pistils number three per flower, each slender and about 4 to 5 mm long, with styles bifid at the tip. Fruits are triangular, three-sided achenes approximately 4 to 6 mm long, dark brown at maturity. Patience dock is native to Eurasia but cultivated and naturalized in South Dakota, commonly found in gardens, disturbed sites, roadsides, and moist open fields , scattered and occasional throughout the state.

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  Polygonaceae: Rumex triangulivalvis

  R. Neil Reese

  Rumex triangulivalvis is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 40 to 120 cm tall from a thick, creeping rootstock. Stems are erect, smooth to sparsely hairy and often reddish-tinged. Leaves are alternate, broadly ovate to lanceolate, 10 to 30 cm long and 5 to 12 cm wide, with entire to slightly wavy margins and pointed tips. Basal leaves have long petioles, while upper leaves are smaller and may have shorter petioles or be nearly sessile. Leaf surfaces are smooth or sparsely hairy. The inflorescence is a large, loose panicle of many small flowers blooming from June to August. Flowers have greenish to reddish-brown tepals, typically three to six per flower, each 3 to 6 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide, lanceolate to ovate, with inner tepals often bearing a distinctive triangular shape or tubercle at the tip. Each flower contains six stamens with filaments about 3 to 4 mm long and yellowish anthers approximately 1 to 2 mm long. Pistils number three per flower, each slender and about 4 to 5 mm long, with bifid styles. Fruits are three-sided achenes about 4 to 6 mm long, dark brown to black at maturity, enclosed by the persistent inner perianth. Mexican dock is native to South Dakota and occurs in moist open habitats, disturbed sites, and along waterways, scattered throughout the state.

  Synonym: Rumex salicifolius var. mexicanus

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  Polygonaceae : Rumex venosus

  R. Neil Reese

  Rumex venosus is a perennial herb from a branching rhizome with erect, branching, reddish, flowering stems that grow 15–40 cm tall. The simple, alternate, petiolate, cauline leaves are lanceolate to ovate, 3–10 cm long with thick leathery blades that are pointed at the tip. The lower most leaves are generally reduced in size. The inflorescence is a panicle with few branches, becoming showy in fruit. The perfect flowers have 2 whorls of tepals 3-4 mm long at anthesis, with 6 stamens and 1 pistil. The outer 3 tepals remain small, the inner tepals (valves), enlarge with the fruit development, becoming reddish, 20–45 mm long orbicular with a cordate-base and lacking growths (tubercles). The fruit are light brown achenes, 5-7 mm long. Wild begonia blooms from April into July on sandy dunes and riverbanks in southern and western South Dakota.

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  Portulacaceae : Lewisia pygmaea

  R. Neil Reese

  Lewisia pygmaea is a small perennial herbaceous plant forming low mats or small rosettes typically 2 to 10 cm tall. It has a fleshy, thickened taproot (caudex). The stems are short and mostly absent or very reduced, often hidden among the leaves. Leaves are basal, simple, fleshy, and linear to spatulate, measuring about 1 to 4 cm long and 2 to 5 mm wide. Leaf margins are entire, and surfaces are smooth and succulent. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or small cluster of flowers on short stalks, flowering from late spring to early summer (May–July). Flowers are star-shaped with 5 to 9 petals, each petal about 5 to 12 mm long and 3 to 6 mm wide, broadly ovate to spatulate, and typically white to pale pink with darker pink or reddish veins. The calyx consists of 5 to 7 sepals that are narrow and lanceolate, about 3 to 6 mm long, often reddish or greenish. The flowers have numerous stamens and a superior ovary. The fruit is a capsule that releases many small seeds. In South Dakota, Alpine bitterroot is native and found in alpine and subalpine rocky outcrops and well-drained mountainous soils in the Black Hills region.

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  Primulaceae : Dodecatheon pulchellum

  R. Neil Reese

  Dodecatheon pulchellum is a perennial herb growing from white, fibrous roots and having erect flowering stems (scapes) that reach up to 50 cm in height. The simple leaves arise from a woody caudex, forming a basal rosette. The oblanceolate to spatulate leaf blades are gradually tapered into a petiole, 4-25 cm long including the petiole, 1-6 cm wide, with entire margins. The inflorescence is a few to many flowered umbel, subtended by a few bracts < 1.5 cm long, with pedicels 1-5 cm long at flowering. The calyx tube is 2-4 mm long with pointed lobes 2-6 mm long. the yellow and red corolla tube has magenta to lavender, reflexed lobes that are 9-20 mm long. the yellow stamens are inserted opposite the corolla lobes, fully protruding and surrounding the style. The fruit is a many-seeded cylindric to ovoid capsule, 7-17 mm long and 4-7 mm wide. Shootingstars bloom in May and June in moist prairie meadows and open woodlands in western South Dakota.

  Synonym: Primula pauciflora

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  Ranunculaceae: Aconitum columbianum

  R. Neil Reese

  Aconitum columbianum is a perennial herbaceous plant typically growing 30 to 100 centimeters tall with erect, unbranched to sparsely branched stems. Leaves are alternate, deeply palmately lobed, usually with 3 to 5 broad, pointed lobes, 5 to 12 centimeters long excluding petioles, which range from 3 to 8 centimeters long and are slender. Flowering occurs from midsummer to early fall, producing several large, showy flowers arranged in terminal racemes. Each flower measures about 3 to 5 centimeters long, with five sepals—the upper sepal forming a distinctive hood or “helmet” 2 to 3 centimeters long that is typically dark purple to blue, while the lateral sepals are smaller and petal-like, approximately 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Petals are nectar-producing and hidden within the sepals, generally two petals having elongated nectaries curved beneath the hood, about 1 to 2 centimeters long. The flower contains numerous stamens with slender filaments and small anthers clustered around a superior ovary. The pistil consists of multiple free carpels (apocarpous), each with a single ovule, a short style, and stigma. Fruits develop as a cluster of follicles, each follicle 2 to 3 centimeters long and elongate, opening to release numerous small seeds by late summer. Columbian Monkshood favors moist, shady sites—streambanks, wet meadows, montane forests—at mid to high elevations across western North America, including the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Actaea rubra

  R Neil Reese PhD

  Actaea rubra is a perennial herb 50-90 cm tall with a somewhat woody base. Stems usually unbranched, glabrous below and puberulent above. There are 1-3 alternate cauline leaves, pinnate to triternate-pinnate, the largest with a long petiole up to 16 cm long. The leaf blades are 15-35 cm long, the ultimate leaflets are broad and irregularly toothed. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, 1-3 cm long in flower and up to 10 cm in fruit. The small flowers have 3-5 sepals, 2.4-3.7 mm long and 3-5 (10) white, spatulate petals, < 3.5 mm long, both rapidly lost after the flowers open. Baneberry has numerous stamens and a single pistil. The fruit are red or white 9-16 seeded berries, 7-13 mm in diameter. They bloom in May and June in moist soils in wooded areas along the western and easter borders of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Anemone canadensis

  R. Neil Reese

  Anemone canadensis is a perennial herb, which grows 10 cm to 60 cm in height, growing from ascending caudices on long, thin rhizomes. The leaves are basal and mostly long-petioled with 3 to 5 lobes which are sharply toothed. The flowers have 5 (4-6) white, petal-like sepals which are obovate 10–20 mm long by 5–15 mm wide. There are 80-100 yellow stamens surrounding a cluster of pistils. The fruiting body is a cluster of achenes 9-16 mm long by 12-19 mm wide. Meadow anemone blooms from May to July in moist prairies, woodlands and meadows throughout much of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Anemone cylindrica

  R. Neil Reese

  Anemone cylindrica is a perennial herbaceous forb that grows from a stout caudex forming clumps. The pubescent stems are upright growing 30–70 cm tall. The leaves cauline are 3-7 lobed 2.5 – 6.5 cm long with petioles from 1-5 cm long. The leaf lobes are jaggedly toothed and pubescent, especially on the bottom. The basal leaves are similarly shaped, 5-14 cm wide with petioles that reach 21 cm in length. The flowers are 1-7 in number 1.5-2 cm in diameter, with 4-6 white sepals and bloom in June and July. There are numerous stamens and a cylindrical arrangement of pistils. In fruit te achenes are arrayed on a cylinder 1.5-3.5 cm long and 7-11 mm wide. The achenes are covered by a wooly white pubescence. Candle anemone can be found throughout South Dakota growing in open prairies and pastures.

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  Ranunculaceae : Aquilegia canadensis

  R Neil Reese

  Aquilegia canadensis is a perennial herb growing 30 to 100 cm tall from a stout caudex. The stems are hollow, smooth to covered with small glandular hairs towards the tops. Stems come from clusters of ternate basal leave and have alternate biternate (occasionally triternate) leaves on the flowering stems. The individual lobes are wedge-shaped and shallowly to deeply lobed. The showy flowers are nodding, regular, 2-5 cm long from tips of the stamens to the ends of the spurs and 1.7-4.3 cm wide. Five rose to dull red colored sepals, 0.9-2 cm long alternate with 5 petals, that are red toward the base and yellowish on the upper parts. The base is formed into a narrow spur that is slightly enlarged at the tip and measure 2-3.6 cm long from the end of the spur to the opening at the upper end. The stamens are numerous and exerted from the corolla. There are 5 carpels that mature into 5 follicles, 1.2-3 cm long with a styler beak that is 0.9-1.8 cm in length and contain several small black seeds. Flowers bloom from April to June. The plants grow in moist soils in wooded areas in several eastern and western counties in South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Caltha palustris

  R. Neil Reese

  Caltha palustris is a fleshy perennial herb with a fibrous root system and hollow stems that grow from 20 to 80 cm in height. This species has both basal and alternate cauline leaves. The blades are nearly round with a chordate base and toothed margins, 3-12 cm long and 4-15 cm wide, with petioles that can reach 30 cm in length and form a stipule-like sheath at the node. The showy flowers are terminal and axillary, with usually 5-6 yellow petal-like sepals, 1-2.3 cm long. There are no petals, numerous stamens and 5-10 pistils. The fruit are recurved and divergent follicles, 8-17 mm long cand contain many small seeds ~ 2mm in diameter. Marsh marigolds bloom in April and May in wet woods, marshes and bogs, often in standing water, in eastern South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Ceratocephala testiculata

  R. Neil Reese

  Ceratocephala testiculata is a small annual herb growing from a slender, often shallow, fibrous root system. The entire plant is usually less than 5–10 cm tall. Stems are typically branched at the base, sparsely hairy to nearly glabrous, and not woody. Leaves are all basal, forming a loose rosette, deeply divided into narrow linear to lobed segments. Basal leaves can reach up to about 6–12 cm long, though each leaflet segment is quite narrow, usually 1–3 mm wide. The leaves are covered with short, stiff hairs. Flowering occurs very early in the spring (often March–April). Flowers are solitary or in small clusters, each about 5–10 mm across. Each flower has 5 yellow, shiny, oblong petals, rounded to slightly obovate in shape, about 5–8 mm long and 3–5 mm wide, giving the flower a compact appearance and 5 shorter, green sepals, typically about 3–5 mm long and approximately 1.5–2 mm wide. The sepals are somewhat ovate to lanceolate in shape and slightly pointed at the tip. Flowers contain numerous stamens and several pistils. The fruit is a small, spiny bur composed of a cluster of nutlets—each nutlet is ovoid, 3–5 mm long, armed with hooked or curved projections. Bur buttercup matures and sets seed rapidly—often by late spring or early summer. Seeds are small, yellowish or brown, and equipped for dispersal by animals via the hooked spines. Bur buttercup is an introduced species and is now a widespread weed in South Dakota, most common in dry, disturbed grasslands, roadsides, overgrazed pastures, sandy sites, and compacted soils, especially in the western part of the state.

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  Ranunculaceae: Clematis hirsutissima

  R. Neil Reese

  Clematis hirsutissima is a perennial herbaceous plant (subshrub) in the Ranunculaceae family. It grows from a deep, woody, branching taproot and sometimes a short, thick rhizome, but does not spread aggressively by vegetative means. Stems are simple to sparsely branched, erect or arching, 15–40 cm tall, and densely covered with stiff, spreading hairs (hirsute). Leaves are opposite and compound or deeply divided, with 3 (up to 9) linear to narrowly lanceolate segments per leaf, with each leaflet being ovate to lanceolate, 3–7 cm long and 1–3 cm wide, with entire to slightly toothed margins and densely hairy surfaces. The basal leaves may be larger and more numerous in a clump. Flowering occurs from May to July. Each plant produces one to several solitary, nodding, urn-shaped flowers atop long, hairy stalks. The flowers are bisexual, with 4 blue to purple, sometimes pink-tinged, thick, leathery sepals (petaloid in appearance), with four thick, petal-like sepals (clematis flowers do not have true petals) that are lavender to pale blue or purple with darker veins and covered with fine hairs on both surfaces. The sepals are broadly ovate to lanceolate, measuring approximately 2.5–4 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, sometimes slightly reflexed at the tips. Flowers contain numerous stamens (yellowish filaments with white anthers) and many separate pistils. The fruit is a cluster of numerous achenes, each bearing a long, plumose, feathery tail (up to 3 cm), initially silvery and maturing to tan, aiding in wind dispersal. Seeds ripen from midsummer to early fall. Sugarbowl is native to South Dakota, especially common in western parts of the state—the Black Hills, Pine Ridge, and rocky uplands. It occurs in dry hillsides, open pine woodlands, prairie bluffs, and rocky outcrops.

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  Ranunculaceae: Clematis ligusticifolia

  R. Neil Reese

  Clematis ligusticifolia is a perennial, somewhat woody vine with smooth to hairy stems that grow several meters in length. The opposite, compound pinnate leaves are petiolate, with 3-7 leaflets that are coarsely toothed, ovate, and 2–6 cm long. The inflorescence consists of many-flowered, axillary panicles, with 4 white, petal-like sepals, 5-13 mm long, lacking petals. The plants are dioecious, with the male (staminate) flowers having numerous stamens, but lacking pistils. The female plants (pistilate) flowers have similar sepals, numerous, full size sterile stamens and multiple pistils. The fruit are hairy achenes, 2-4.5 mm long with plumose styles up to 6 cm long. Western virgin’s bower blooms in July and August and can be found climbing of trees, shrubs and rocks in western South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Delphinium bicolor

  R. Neil Reese

  Delphinium bicolor is a perennial herb typically growing from a fleshy, branching rootstock, stems are mostly smooth, 30 to 90 centimeters tall, erect and branched. Leaves are alternate, 4 to 12 cm long, palmately divided with 3 to 5 deeply cleft lobes. Each leaflet is ovate to lanceolate, typically 3–7 cm long and 2–5 cm wide, with coarsely toothed margins, a smooth texture, and a petiole 3 to 7 cm long. Flowering occurs from May to July, producing tall racemes of striking bicolored flowers, usually deep blue to violet with white centers. Flowers have five sepals; the posterior sepal is enlarged, forming a prominent backward-pointing spur about 1–1.5 cm long and 3–4 mm wide at the base, the lateral sepals are smaller and differently shaped. The petals number five, with two often highly modified. The upper two petals are typically white or pale, while the lower three are blue or violet, roughly 8 to 12 millimeters long and 4 to 6 millimeters wide. There are numerous stamens arranged around the carpels, inserted at the base of the petals, each filament is slender and about 5 to 8 millimeters long. The pistil consists of multiple carpels, each with a distinct style ending in a small, rounded stigma. The fruit is a cluster of dry follicles (several follicles per flower), each follicle is about 10 to 20 millimeters long, containing several small seeds that mature from late summer through early fall. Two-color larkspur is native to South Dakota, commonly found in open forests, grasslands, and rocky slopes, mainly in western and central regions in moist meadows, open coniferous forests, and montane slopes.

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  Ranunculaceae : Delphinium carolinianum ssp. virescens

  R. Neil Reese

  Delphinium carolinianum ssp. virescens is a perennial herb growing from a fibrous to tuberous root system, with sturdy erect, occasionally branched stems, 25-120 cm tall, usually with simple and glandular hairs throughout. There are both basal and alternate cauline leaves, palmately compound, 7-8 cm long, deeply divided into 5 or more primary sections, each with several linear lobes. The basal leaves have long petioles and are usually gone by flowering, and the cauline leave are smaller with shorter petioles. The inflorescence is a spike-like raceme with 5- 30 zygomorphic flowers. There are 5 white sepals, the uppermost having a spur, 11-20 mm long and the lowest pair 7-16 mm long. the 4 petals are white, the upper pair spurred and the lower pair, cleft, bearded, 4-8 mm long and 3-6 mm wide. There are numerous stamens and 3 carpels. The fruit are 3 divergent follicles about 20 mm long. Prairie larkspur blooms in May and June on prairies and pastures throughout South Dakota.

  Synonym: Delphinium virescens

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  Ranunculaceae: Delphinium nuttallianum

  R. Neil Reese

  Delphinium nuttallianum is a perennial herb growing 20 to 70 centimeters tall with erect, slender stems. The stems are mostly glabrous or sparsely covered with fine hairs. Leaves are primarily basal, typically 3 to 8 cm long with petioles from 2 to 6 cm in length. They are deeply palmately divided into 3–7 narrow, lanceolate lobes, each about 1–4 cm long, with serrated margins; cauline leaves are fewer, smaller, and simpler. Flowering occurs from May to July. Flowers grow in slender racemes with numerous blue to pale violet, zygomorphic blossoms, often with a slate-gray tint. Each flower has five sepals (one forming a backward-spurred projection 1–2 cm long), four petals (two modified as nectar spurs), numerous stamens, and a single pistil. two upper petals often pale or white and the lower petals that are blue, each petal approximately 7 to 12 millimeters long and 4 to 6 millimeters wide, often bearded. Stamens are numerous, arranged in a ring around the carpels, with filaments about 4 to 6 millimeters long. The pistil consists of several free carpels (apocarpous), each with a slender style ending in a small, rounded stigma. The fruit is a cluster of several dry follicles, each follicle about 10 to 18 millimeters long, containing small seeds. Fruits mature from late summer to early fall. Nuttall’s larkspur is native to South Dakota, commonly found in dry meadows, open woodlands, rocky slopes, and foothills, especially in the western Black Hills and adjacent upland regions.