LARKSPUR. Ill 



LARKSPUR. Delphinium. 



Natural Order Multisiliquce. RanunculacecB^ Juss 

 a Genus of the Polyandria Trigynia Class. 



That a flower of so much celebrity for its ele- 

 gance of shape and beautiful variety of colour- 

 ing shouldbe suflpered to pass unnoticedby EngUsh 

 bards cannot escape '' our special wonder." Let 

 no poet henceforth complain of the want of a 

 subject until we are able to present our readers 

 with a head to the history of a plant whose 

 pyramidal bouquets rank in the parterre amongst 

 the most brilliant favourites of Flora. 



The lively and deUcate dyes of these blossoms 

 give a prismatic effect to the garden by their 

 spiral branches of azure, rose, white, violet, lilac, 

 and carnation hues. 



In floral language the Larkspur is made the 

 emblem of lightness, an appellation which the 

 graceful airiness with which these flowers are 

 placed on the branches truly justifies. The ge- 

 neric name of the plant is derived from the Greek 

 AsXcf>fviov, signifying a dolphin, because the flower- 



