Royle
Description
Delphinium brunonianum is a high-alpine perennial of the inner Himalaya and adjacent Central Asian ranges, recorded from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iraq eastward through northern India, Nepal and Bhutan into south-western China (Tibetan plateau), with some 698 georeferenced GBIF occurrences across this circum-Tibetan arc. It inhabits open stony slopes, screes, moraines and short alpine turf at extreme elevations, typically between about 4000 and 5500 m. The photographed plant from the Kagmara La in West Nepal at 5500 m in July represents the upper range of the species, where it flowers briefly during the short post-monsoon window on wind-exposed, gravelly ground.
It forms a low, tufted herb 8-20 cm tall arising from a stout rootstock, the whole plant glandular-pubescent and emitting a strong musky odour. The leaves are mostly basal, reniform to orbicular in outline and palmately three- to five-lobed with crenate segments. The few-flowered inflorescence bears unusually large, nodding, inflated flowers; the five petaloid sepals are pale to deep blue-purple, broadly ovate, the upper one prolonged into a short blunt spur, and the dark, hairy petals form a contrasting central boss. The fruit is a cluster of three erect, glandular follicles releasing winged seeds.
The species belongs to Delphinium sect. Brunoniana, a small group of musk-scented, large-flowered high-altitude larkspurs. Its strong scent and inflated corolla are associated with bumblebee pollination in a cold, insect-poor environment. Widely used in Tibetan and Himalayan folk medicine, it remains locally common across a vast remote range and is not considered threatened, though it is restricted to fragile alpine habitats sensitive to climate warming and grazing pressure.
Author: Royle · Sources: POWO (Kew), GBIF, Flora of China, Flora of Pakistan, Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal, Munz monograph of Delphinium