ERAXTHIS.] RANVNCULACE.E. U'. 



leave? orbicular, 3-5-partite, segments obtusely lobed ; petiole long. In- 

 , mlucre of 2 sessile lobed bracts. Flower cup-shaped, 1-1^ in. diam. Sepals 

 pale yellow. Petals shorter than the stamens. Follicles as in Helleborus, 

 but free and stipitate. DISTRIB. W. Europe, from Belgium southwards, 



9. AQUILE'GIA, L. COLUMBINE. 



Erect herbs. Rootstock perennial. Leaves 3-nately divided. Flowers 

 panicled or solitary, handsome. Sepals 5, regular, petaloid. Petals 5, 

 concave, spurred behind. Stamens many, inner imperfect. Carpels 5, many- 

 ovuled. Follicles 5. Seeds many, testa crustaceous smooth or granulated. 

 DISTRIB. N. temp, zone ; species 5-6. ETYM. aquila, from the form of 

 the petals. 



1. A. vulga'ris, L. ; spur hooked, follicles cylindric hairy. 

 Woods and thickets, but often naturalized, ascending to 1,000 ft. in Yorkshire ; 

 N., E., and W. Ireland; fl. May-July. Rootstock stout, blackish. Stem, 

 1-2 ft., slender. Radical leaves fascicled, petioles long, 2-3-ternately 

 divided, segments stalked, lobed, glaucous, glabrous, or pilose beneath. 

 Plovers 1^-2 in. diam., loosely corymbose, drooping, blue or dull purple, 

 (white or red in garden varieties). Sepals ovate-lanceolate. Petals ob- 

 long, spur curved, involute at the tip. Inner stamens reduced to broad 

 wrinkled white filaments. DISTRIB. Europe, Canaries, Siberia, Asia to 

 the W. Himalaya. 



9*. DELPHIN'IUM, I. LARKSPUR. 



Erect, annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, lobed or cut. 

 Flowers racemed or panicled. Sepals 5, cohering below, dorsal spurred 

 behind. Petals 2-4, small, spurs of the 2 dorsal developed within that of 

 the sepal, 2 lateral spurless or 0. Stamens many. Follicles 1-5. Seeds 

 many, testa coriaceous wrinkled or plaited. DISTRIB. N. temp, zone ; 

 species about 40. ETYM. 8eA.<f>iV, from the form of the flower. 



1. D. AJA'CIS, Reich, (not L.) ; racemes long, lower bracts lobed, 

 follicles solitary pxibescent. D. Consol'ida, Brit. Fl. (not L. ). 

 Cornfields, naturalized in Cambridgeshire, sporadic elsewhere ; alien or colonist, 

 Watson; fl. June-July. Annual, pubescent. Stem 10-18 in., slender, 

 sparingly branched. Leaves cut into many narrow linear lobes, lower petioled, 

 upper sessile. Flower 1 in. diam., blue, white or pink. Sepals spatbulate- 

 oblong, spur ^ in. Petals 2. Follicle in., cylindric ; style short. 

 Seeds continuously plaited all round. DISTKIB. Central and S. Europe, 

 N. Africa ; introd. in U. States. Syme observes that D. Aja'cis, Reich, 

 (and continental authors), is not the plant of Linnaeus (which is orienta'le of 

 Gay) ; hence the present plant should have a new name : but as the names 

 Consol'ida, orienta'li, and Aja'cis are now fixed, it is unwise to disturb the 

 present arrangement. D. Consol'ida, L., has been once found in cornfields 

 in Jersey ; it has glabrous follicles shorter than those of D, Aja'cis, short 

 racemes and seeds with interrupted ridges. 



9**. ACONI'TUM, L. MONKSHOOD, WOLFSBANE. 



Erect perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, palmately-lobed or cut. 



Flowers panicled or racemed. Sejjals 5, dorsal large, arched, hooded; 



anterior narrowest. Petals 2-5, small ; 2 upper with long claws, hooded at 



the tip, covered by the sepaliue hood ; 3 lower small or 0. Carpels 3-5, 



