4)1 



DEL 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



DEL 



iMrk's-toes; in French, pied d'allouette ; in German, ritter- 

 tjiorn ; in Danish and Swedish, riddenpore ; in Italian, 

 ,-ptronella ; and in Spanish, espuela de caballero. It grows 

 wild in the corn-fields in Germany, France, Switzerland, Car- 

 niola, Italy, and Spain ; it was observed by Sherard in 

 Swnffham-fields, Cambridgeshire, and found there by pro- 

 fessor John Martin in 1730, and has been seen in abun- 

 dance in most of the open fields round Cambridge, with 

 pink, purple, and white flowers, ever since the year 1752. 

 The expressed juice of the petals, with the addition of a 

 little alum, makes a good blue ink. The seeds are acrid 

 and poisonous. Meyrick informs us, that a decoction of the 

 leaves is good for the bleeding piles ; stopping the hsemor- 

 rhage, and cooling the body at the same time, contrary to 

 most of the other restringent medicines. A conserve made 

 with the flowers is an excellent medicine for children, who, 

 from a redundancy of acrid humours in the intestines, are 

 subject to violent purgings. Hill also prescribes the juice 

 of the flower, and an infusion of the whole plant, against the 

 c:olic, and pains in the bowels. The first, second, third, 

 fourth, and fifth species, (which are annuals,) are propagated 

 by seeds, which must be sown where the plants are designed 

 to remain, for they do not bear transplanting well, especially 

 v. hen they are not removed while very young. Those seeds 

 which are sown in autumn, produce the strongest plants and 

 most double flowers, and ripen their seeds better than those 

 which are sown in the spring, as they come earlier to flower ; 

 but to obtain a succession of these flowers, there should be 

 >ome seed sown in the spring. When they are sown upon the 

 borders of the flower-garden for ornament, they should be in 

 patches of about a foot in diameter, in the middle of the bor- 

 ders, at proper distances ; in each of these patches may be 

 scattered ten or a dozen seeds, covering them over about a 

 tjuarter of an inch with earth, and in the spring the plants may 

 be thinned, leaving about five or six of the upright sort in each 

 patch to stand for flowering, but of the branching sort not 

 more than three or four, because they occupy so much more 

 room. The plants will now require nothing farther, except 

 careful weeding ; and when they begin to flower, should be 

 supported by flower-sticks, to prevent their being broken by 

 the wind, especially if they be in an unsheltered situation. 

 If the seeds be well chosen, there will be very few ordinary 

 flowers among them ; and if different coloured flowers spring 

 up in each patch, they will make a pleasing variety ; but the 

 upright sort should never be mixed in the same patches with 

 the branching, because they do not flower at the same time. 

 But in order to preserve the two sorts fine, without degene- 

 rating to single or bad colours, there should be a bed of each 

 sort sown in autumn, in some separate part of the garden, 

 where the plants should be properly thinned, and kept clean 

 from weeds till they begin to show their flowers ; they should 

 then be carefully looked over every other day,to pull out all 

 those plants whose flowers are not very double, nor of good 

 colours, for if these be permitted to stand among the others 

 'ill their farina has impregnated them, it will certainly cause 

 them to degenerate : hence those persons who are contented 

 with only marking theirgood flowers forseed, and suffer the 

 others to stand for seed among them, will always find them- 

 >elves disappointed in the goodness of their flowers the fol- 

 lowing season : therefore those who propose to have these 

 flowers in pefection, should never gather the seeds of such 

 as grew in the borders of the flower-garden, because there 

 it will be almost impossible to preserve them so true, as 

 when they are in beds of a distance from all other kinds. 

 When the seed-vessels turn brown, they must be carefully 

 watched, to gather them before they open and discharge their 



seeds ; because those which are situated on the lower part 

 of the stalk, will open long before the others on the upper 

 part are ripe ; hence the pods ought to be gathered as they 

 ripen, and not suffered to stand till the stalks are pulled up', 

 which is often practised. Those pods which are situated on 

 the lower part of the stalks, are much preferable to such as 

 grow near the top, for which reason those who are very 

 curious in the choice of their seeds, crop off the upper part 

 of the spikes of flowers, and never suffer them to seed. As 

 these plants are so very hardy, and require so little care in 

 their culture, they deserve a place in every good garden ; and 

 during their continuance in flower, there are few plants which 

 make a better appearance. 



2. Delphinium Ajacis ; Upright Larkspur. Nectaries 

 one-leafed ; stem simple. The stalk is eighteen inches and 

 more in height, and seldom branched ; leaves finely divided, 

 commonly by threes, on broad petioles ; segments linear, 

 quite entire, channelled above ; spike of flowers erect and 

 more dense than the preceding ; commonly only one capsule 

 or silique. This species affords a great variety of colours in 

 both the single and double flowers, some of which are very 

 large and numerous, in close spikes, making a fine appearance 

 from the end of June until August. Native country unknown . 

 See the preceding species. 



3. Delphinium Aconiti. Nectaries one-leafed, with four 

 teeth in front ; branchlets one-flowered. Stem a foot high, 

 panicled, branching, hoary, pubescent ; leaves pedate, mul- 

 tifid, linear, becoming hoary ; the upper ones only three- 

 parted ; flowers terminating, solitary, peduncled, small, li- 

 vid, variegated within with purple and green. Annual : 

 Native of the Dardanelles. See the first species. 



** Tricapsular. 



4. Delphinium Ambiguum ; Doubtful Larkspur. Nec- 

 taries one-leafed ; corollas six-petalled ; leaves many-parted. 

 Corollas blue, with a green outside ; stalk three feet high or 

 more : the branches come out horizontally at first, but after- 

 wards turn up so as to make an acute angle with the stalk ; 

 the leaves are long, and finely divided : the flowers also are 

 placed thinner in the spikes than those of the upright sort, are 

 large, and some of them very double and of various colours. It 

 flowers later than the Upright Larkspur. NativeofBarbury. 

 See the first species. 



5. Delphinium Peregrinum j Broad-leaved Annual Lark- 

 spur. Nectaries two leaved ; corollas nine-petalled ; leaves 

 many-parted, obtuse. This has a very branching stalk, about 

 two feet high ; the lower leaves are divided into many broad 

 obtuse segments, but those which are upon the stalks are 

 generally single ; the flowers grow scatteringly towards the 

 upper part of the branches, are small, and of a deep blue 

 colour; they are succeeded by very small seed-vessels, which 

 are single or double, rarely three together. Native of the 

 south of Europe and the Levant. See the first species. 



6. Delphinium Grandiflorum ; Great-Jlowcrtd Larkspur. 

 Nectaries two-leaved, with entire lips ; flowers usually soli- 

 tary ; leaves compound-linear, many-parted .- they are of a 

 light green above, and hoary beneath. It has a perennial 

 root, which puts out two or three branching stalks every 

 spring, rising a foot and a half high. The flowers come out 

 towards the upper part of the stalks singly, each on a long 

 naked peduncle ; they are large, and of a fine azure colour, 

 appearing in June mid July, and ripening seed in autumn. 

 Native of Siberia. The sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and 

 tenth, (which are perennials) are propagated by seed, which, 

 if sown in autunin.will more certainlysucceedthanthusewhich 

 are sown in the spring ; when the plants come up, they should 

 be weeded and thinned ; in the folio wing autumn they must b* 



