WILD LARKSPUR 



Delphinium tricorne Michx. 



April - May Oni.niifiitiil ;is n pii-dm IIow.m-. hriirht as the brightest 

 Grassy woods imrplc or dcliuitcly lavender or (.•hastcly white, the wikl 

 larksjxir grows in tlie blue-grass wooils, in tlie hilly 

 limestone woods, or along roads where once there were wt)ods. AN ild 

 larkspur is one of the most brilliant and arresting of all the Illinois 

 spring flowers. 



In woods where the laik>|)ni- bleoius there llutter the I'apilio butter- 

 flies, the tiger swallowtail and the angulai' zebra swallowtail. The zebras 

 lay theii' eggs on the new ]i,i\\|ia\\ le;i\i's; the tigers ehoo.^je sassafras. 'The 

 briirht black and silver winu< of the zebra swallowtails eonie flitting in 

 jaggi^l llight through the sunlight of the larkspur woods where the 

 pawpaws grow, and the tiger>. bright eanarv yellow and black, fly ap- 

 parentlv in aiinles> fashion througli the trees and over the flowe.i"s. The 

 swallowtails both come to the wild larks|iur llowers, and in .^o doing 

 ])r("S('nt a s])lendi(l contrast in i-olor and line. The larkspur llowers with 

 their fuzzv centers and long sj)urs oiler a somewhat dithcult perch for 

 butterflies, so that they nui.<t cling with wings in motion while the long 

 proboscis ])robes deejjly into the trumpets for neitar. 



Bees. howev(M-. are beli(>ved to be the actual poUinizers of the lark- 

 spur — big black and yellow l)und)lelMM^s making the whole flower stalk 

 shake while they sip nectar from blight purj)le blossoms. Larksjjurs are 

 unable to complete fertilization in them.<elves without the aid of the bees. 



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