DEL 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



DEN 



443 



planted where they are to remain : they will flower in the fol- 

 lowing: summer, and the roots continuing to increase in 

 magnitude for many years, will produce a great number of 

 Bower-stalks. 



7. Delphinium Intermedium ; Palmated Bee Larkspur. 

 Nectaries two-leaved, with ovate cloven lips and ovate divi- 

 sions ; leaves three-parted, with trifid gashed divisions. Root 

 perennial, with annual stems growing to the height of six or 

 seven feet ; leaves broad, divided into five or seven parts, 

 cut into many narrow segments towards the top ; flowers in 

 long spikes, terminating ; corollas of a fine blue colour. 

 Native of Silesia. See the sixth species. 



8. Delphinium Elatum ; Common Bee Larkspur. Nec- 

 taries two-leaved, with ovate emarginate lips, and very short 

 unequal divisions ; leaves subpeltate, three-parted, with 

 iniiltiliil divisions. It is six feet high ; root perennial ; leaves 

 slightly villose, becoming smooth by age, half five-lobed, 

 petioled ; lobes acute, often half three-lobed, sharply serrate ; 

 spikes of flowers very long and handsome; peduncles one- 

 flowered, languinose ; corollas deep blue, with a wrinkled 

 spur. It flowers from June to September, and is a native of 

 Switzerland and Siberia. See the sixth species. 



9. Delphinium Exaltatum ; American Larkspur. Nec- 

 taries two-leaved, with oblong cloven lips and lanceolate 

 equal divisions ; leaves three-parted, with trifid divisions. 

 Root perennial ; stem upright, five or six feet high, branch- 

 ing ; lower leaves large, divided into three lobes to the petiole, 

 and these cut on their borders into acute segments; they 

 are a little hairy, and of a grayish colour, standing upon 

 pretty long petioles ; stem-leaves smaller, and not so deeply 

 divided ; the principal stalk is terminated by a long loose 

 spike of flowers ; the flowers are not much larger than those 

 of the common Larkspur, and are of a pale blue colour. 

 The bearded nectary has, at first sight, the appearance of a 

 large fly in the tube of the flower. It flowers at the end of 

 June or beginning of July, and in cool seasons there is fre- 

 quently a succession of flowers till the end of August. Native 

 of most parts of North America, where it occasions great 

 disorders in the cattle that feed upon the leaves. See the 

 sixth species. 



10. Delphinium Puniceum ; Scarlet-flowered Larkspur. 

 Lips of the nectary two-parted, hairy ; horn straight ; leaves 

 many-parted ; no calieine bractes. It differs from all the 

 other sorts in the dusky red colour of the flowers. Peren- 

 nial. Native of Siberia. See the tenth species. 



11. Delphinium Staphisagria ; Palmated Larkspur, Staves- 

 acre, or Lousewort. Nectaries four-leaved, shorter than 

 the petal ; leaves palmate, with the lobes obtuse. This is 

 an annual plant, rising with a strong hairy stalk about two 

 feet high ; leaves hairy, composed of five or seven oblong 

 lobes, which have frequently one or two acute indentures 

 on their sides ; the flowers form a loose spike at the upper 

 part of the stalk, each on a short peduncle, and are of a 

 pale blue or purple colour. A variety with leaves veined 

 with white, differs in having the leaf gashed, seven-parted, 

 the divisions acuminate, the horn or spur of the corolla not 

 obscure, but the length of the pedicel. The common people 

 use the powder of the seed to kill lice ; whence it is named 

 Lousewort. The seeds are kept by druggists, and have 

 been given in small doses against rheumatic and venereal 

 disorders ; they vomit and purge, and that in so rough a 

 manner, that it is not safe to take them internally ; when 

 chewed in the mouth, they excite a very large discharge 

 of watery humours from adjacent parts, and frequently 

 prove serviceable in disorders of the head ; but are chiefly 

 used to destroy the lice with which children's heads are 



generally infested, and the seeds, coarsely powdered and 

 strewed among the hair, never fails to remove them. The 

 seeds of this sort should be sown where the plants are de- 

 signed to remain, and require no other treatment than the 

 common Larkspur. 



Dentaria ; a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order 

 Siliquosa. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth four- 

 leaved ; leaflets ovate-oblong, converging from parallel, 

 obtuse, deciduous. Corolla: four-petalled, cruciform. 

 Petals : roundish, obtuse, scarcely eir.arginate, flat, ending 

 in claws the length of the calix. Stamina : filamenta six, 

 subulate, length of the calix, of which two are shorter ; 

 antherae cordate-oblong, erect. Pistil: germen oblong, 

 length of the stamina ; style very short, thick ; stigma obtuse, 

 emarginate. Pericarp : silique long, columnar two-celled, 

 two-valved, bursting open elastically, with the valves rolled 

 back ; dissepiment a little longer than the valves. Seeds : 

 many, somewhat ovate. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER.. Silique : 

 bursting elastically, with the valves rolled back. Stigma . 

 emarginate. Calix : converging lengthwise. These plants 

 are propagated by seeds, or parting their roots : the seeds 

 should be sown in autumn, soon alter they are ripe, in a 

 light sandy soil, and a shady situation ; in the spring the 

 plants may be taken up where they grow too close, and 

 transplanted out into the same kind of soil and situation, 

 where, after they have taken root, they will require no farther 

 care, but to keep them clear from weeds ; in the second 

 year they produce their flowers, and sometimes perfect their 

 seeds. The best time for transplanting the roots is in. 

 October, when they should be planted in a moist soil and a 

 shady situation ; for they will not live in a dry soil, or when 

 they are exposed to the sun. The bulbs produced on the 

 stalks of the second sort, if planted, will grow, and produce 

 other plants. The species are, 



1. Dentaria Enneaphylla ; Nine-leaved Toothwort. Leaves 

 three together, ternate, serrated, without any glands between 

 the leaflets. Root perennial, white, toothed, long, of a plea- 

 sant taste ; stem a foot, or a foot and a half in height, branch- 

 ed, round, and smooth ; leaflets lanceolate, serrate, acumi- 

 nate, smooth; flowers from three peduncles, forming a 

 panicle or raceme, erect, fascicled ; calix pale green or yel- 

 lowish ; petals reddish yellow, or yellowish red : most of the 

 upper flowers are abortive. Gerarde calls it Coral-toothed 

 I'iolet. It flowers in April and May, and is a native of the 

 woods of Hungary, Austria, Silesia, &c. 



2. Dentaria liulbifera ; Bulbiferous Toothwort, or Coral- 

 wort. Lower leaves pinnate ; upper simple. Stem simple ; 

 corollas flesh-coloured. The scaly bulbs in the axils of the 

 upper leaves falling off, take root, and propagate new plants, 

 so that it rarely produces seed. Root perennial ; petals 

 purple, white, or reddish. It flowers in April and May. 

 Gerarde calls it the Toothed, or Dog-toothed Violet. Native of 

 Germany, Carniola, Piedmont, and England, in moist woods 

 and shady places. It is but rare in England, having only 

 been observed in Highreed and Foxholes woods, near 

 May-field, Sussex ; in Old Park wood, near Harefield ; and 

 between Beaconsfield and Wycoinb, Bucks. 



3. DentariaPinnata;5een-teaerf Tonthwort. All the leaves 

 pinnate : lower leaves with seven, and the upper with five 

 leaflets. It may be fairly separated from the fourth species, 

 there being a permanent difference in the leaves, although they 

 agree in the flowers. Native of Switzerland, the south of 

 France, and Silesia, Mount Jura, and Saleya. 



4. Dentaria Pentaphylla ; Five-leaved Toothwort. Leaves 

 digitate. This rises with a strong stalk, a foot and a half 

 high, with a leaf at each joint, composed of five lobes, four 



