W62 



SPRING LARKSPUR 



Delphi'nium menzie'sii, syns. D. nelso'nii, D. pineto'rum 



Seed pods (follicles) 3, smooth to hairy, about 

 X to % in. long, oblong-cylindrical, somewhat 

 joined at base but recurving and widely spread- 

 ing at tips, each splitting from tip downward 

 along inside ridge, many-seeded, tipped by per- 

 sistent short stalk (style) 



Flowers showy, dark blue or purplish, irregu- 

 lar, hairy, sometimes somewhat sticky, each on 

 a slender, ascending or spreading, bracted stalk, 

 in 2- to several-flowered, elongating end clusters 

 (racemes) 



Outer flower parts (sepals) 5, petal-like, ir- 

 regular, K to % in. long, spatula-shaped, oblong, 

 the upper one prolonged into a slightly curved 

 spur about equal in length to the sepals 



Petals 4, small, pale to brownish yellow with 

 conspicuous, dark purplish veins, in 2 unequal 

 pairs; the upper pair prolonged into spurlike, 

 nectar-bearing appendages, and enclosed in 

 the spurred sepal; lower pair clawed, with 

 rounded, slightly cleft blade about % in. long 



Stamens numerous 



Stems slender, erect but bending easily, 

 usually less than 1 ft. (rarely 2 ft.) high, spar- 

 ingly leafy, usually branching at base, the 

 branches widely spreading 



Leaves alternate, somewhat rounded or kid- 

 ney-shaped in outline, palmately 3- to 5-parted 

 and each of these divisions variously cleft- or 

 lobed, smooth or hairy; lower leaves larger and 

 longer-stalked than upper ones 



Root tuberous, clustered, perennial 



