46 RANUNCLLACE^.. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 



1. A. Canadensis, L. (Wild Columbine.) Spurs nearly straight; 

 stamens and styles longer than the ovate sepals. — Ivocks, common. April- 

 June. — Flowers 2' long, scarlet, yellow inside (or rarely all over), nodding, 

 60 that the spurs turn upward, but the stalk becomes upright in fruit. 



2. A. brevistyla, Hook. Flowers small, blue or purplish or nearly 

 white ; spurs incurved. — Red River valley, Dak. ; Rocky Mts., northAvard. 



A. vulgXris, L., the common Garden Columbine, of Europe, with 

 hooked spurs, is beginning to escape from cultivation in some places. 



17. DELPHINIUM, Tourn. Larkspur. 



Sepals 5, irregular, petal-like ; the upper one prolonged into a spur at the 

 base. Petals 4, irregular, the upper pair continued backward into long spurs 

 which are enclosed in the spur of the calyx, the lower pair with short cIeavs; 

 rarely only 2, united into one. Pistils 1-5, forming many -seeded pods in fruit. 

 — Leaves palmately divided or cut. Flowers in terminal racemes. (Name 

 from Delphin, in allusion to the shape of the flower, which is sometimes not 

 unlike the classical figures of the dolphin.) 



* Perennials, indigenous ; pistils 3. 



1. D. exalt^tum, Ait. (Tall Larkspur.) Stem slender, 2-5° high; 

 leaves deeply 3 - 5-cleft, the divisions narrow wedge-form, di\'erging, 3-cleft 

 at the apex, acute ; racemes wand-like, panicled, many-flowered ; flowers pur- 

 plish-blue, downy ; spur straight; pods erect. — Rich soil, Penn. to Minn, and 

 southward. July. 



2. D. tricorne, Michx. (Dwarf L.) Leaves deeply 5-parted, their 

 divisions unequally 3 - 5-cleft ; the lobes linear, acutish ; raceme few-flowered, 

 loose; spur straightish, ascending; pods stromjly diverrjing. — W. Penn. to 

 Minn, and southward. April, May. — Root a tuberous cluster. Stem simple, 

 6' -3° high. Flowers bright blue, sometimes white, occasionally numerous. 



3. D. azureum, Michx. Leaves deeply 3 -5-parted, the divisions 2-3 

 times cleft; the lobes all narrowly linear; raceme strict: spur ascending, 

 usually curved upward; pods erect. — Wise, to Dak. and southward. May, 

 June. — Stem 1-2° high, slender, often softly pubescent. Flowers sky-blue 

 or whitish. 



* * Annual, introduced ; petals 2, united into one body ; pistil single. 



D. Cons6lida, L. (Field L.) Leaves dissected into narrow linear lobes ; 

 inflorescence loosely paniculate; pedicels shorter than the bracts; pod gla- 

 brous. — Old grain-fields, Penn. and Va. ; also sparingly along roadsides 

 farther north. (Nat. from Eu.) 



D. AjXcis, L. Flowers more numerous and spicately racemose; pods 

 pubescent. — Sparingly escaped from gardens in E.Atlantic States. (Nat. 

 from Eu.) 



18. ACONITUM, Tourn. Aconite. Monkshood. Wolfsbane. 



Sepals 5, petal-like, very irregular ; the upper one (helmet) hooded or hel- 

 met-shaped, larger than the others. Petals 2 (the 3 lower wanting entirely, or 

 very minute rudiments among the stamens), consisting of small spur-shaped 

 bodies raised on long claws and concealed under the helmet. Pistils 3-5. 

 Pods several-seeded. Seed-coat usuallv wrinkled or scalv. — Perennials, with 



