LARKSPUR 93 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



9. Ranunculus arvensis, L. Stem tall, leaves much divided, linear- 

 lanceolate, calyx spreading, carpels beaked, spinous, nectary with a 

 scale. 



Larkspur (Delphinium Ajacis, Reichb.) 



Larkspur is unknown in a fossil state. It belongs to the Warm 

 Temperate Zone, growing in Central and S. Europe, North Africa, 

 and has been introduced into the United States of America. It was 

 regarded by H. C. Watson as an alien or colonist, and as naturalized in 

 Cambridgeshire, but elsewhere sporadic. 



The Larkspur is a plant of the Eastern counties, which has 

 become established where arable land still remains. Doubtless, since 

 it is an old garden favourite in another form, it was once much 

 commoner than it is to-day. Now it is only with good fortune that 

 one may expect to find it in East Anglia in the cornfields, where it 

 gives just that blue tinge to the growing grain that is to be seen 

 more extensively where the Cornflower grows. 



Chalky or calcareous soil suits it best. 



Larkspur is a tall, erect plant, with many spreading branches ; and 

 the numerous flowers in the raceme or flowerhead give it a handsome 

 appearance, and this is noticeable in the cultivated form in our gardens. 

 The leaves are much divided, with linear lobes. 



Its first Latin name was bestowed on it in reference to the shape 

 of the nectary, like the mythical dolphin. The second name was 

 given in allusion to the fancied resemblance between some markings, 

 like A I A, upon the flower. The terminal crowded racemes or flower- 

 heads have as many as sixteen flowers, white, purple, blue, &c. The 

 seeds, which are numerous, black, and angular, have transverse undu- 

 lating ridges around them. The style is awl-shaped. The follicles 

 or fruits are downy or smooth. 



The plant is i to 2 ft. high, flowering in June and July, and is 

 annual. 



In this, as in D. consolida, 2 petals have united. The posterior 

 sepals form a spur. The 2 upper petals have united by their back- 

 wardly- directed processes into a single spur in the point of which 

 honey is secreted. The enlarged parts of the upper petals turned tor- 

 ward lengthwise are united into an inner spur, and when the bee enters 

 cannot be thrust on one side. They form a sheath with the lower petals, 

 only open below. At first the anthers, in the second case the stigmas, 

 touch the bee below the head. The lower petals unite with the upper 



