12 RANUNCULACE.E. ^'Delphinium. 



* * flowers red. 



8. D. nudicaule, Torr. & Gray. Smooth or slightly villous : stem | to 2 feet 

 high or more : leaves mostly near the base of the stem, 1 to 3 inches in diam- 

 eter, 3 - 5-lobed, the lobes more or less deeply 3 - 7-toothed with broad obtuse 

 mucronulate segments : flowers 1 to 1 ^ inches long, including the straight spur, 

 which is longer than the sepals, usually light scarlet with more or less of orange ; 

 sepals but little spreading ; petals usually ciliate or somewhat villous : carpels 

 pubescent or smooth. Fl. i 33 & 661 ; Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 5819. 



Var. elatius, Thompson. The taller form with more leafy stems, the flowers 

 with rather longer and more slender spurs than in the typical state. Garden, iii. 

 477. D. sarcophyllum, Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey, 317. 



In the Coast Ranges from Mendocino Co. to San Francisco ; Plumas Co., Mrs. Pulsifer Ames. 



9. D. cardinale, Hook. Tall and stout, nearly glabrous : leaves large, 5-7- 

 lobed nearly to the base, the divisions deeply 3 5-cleft with narrow long-acumi- 

 nate segments : flowers as in the last, but larger and more open, bright scarlet 

 with yellow centre, petals somewhat hairy : carpels smooth. Bot. Mag. t. 4887 ; 

 Torrey, Bot. Mex. Bound. 30, t. 2. D. coccineum, Torrey, Pacif. E. Eep. iv. 62. 



Apparently confined to the mountains of S. California ; Los Angeles ( Wallace) to San Diego. 



10. ACONITUM, Tourn. MONKSHOOD. 



Sepals 5, colored and petal-like, very irregular ; the upper one arched into a hood or 

 helmet. Petals 2 to 5 ; the upper 2 with long claws and irregular spur-like blades 

 concealed within the hood ; the lower 3 either very minute or obsolete. Pistils 

 3 to 5. Fruit of 3 to 5 dehiscent, many-seeded follicles. Herbs with palmately- 

 lobed leaves. 



Species 18, mostly belonging to the mountains of the Northern Hemisphere. Some (all ?) of 

 them are poisonous. 



1. A. Fischeri, Eeichenb. Leaves palmately 3 -5-cleft; the divisions broadly 

 cuneated, and laciniately toothed or cut into acute lobes : flowers in a loose terminal 

 raceme, often somewhat panicled : follicles usually 3. 111. Sp. Aconiti Gen. fol. 

 i. 22. A. nasutum, Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. i. 26. A. Columbianum, Nutt. ; Torr. 

 & Gray, Fl. i. 34. 



Moist places in the Coast Ranges north of Clear Lake, the Sierra Nevada at 4 to 8,000 feet ; 

 also the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, Kamtschatka, and Siberia. Stems smooth below and either 

 smooth or with short pubescence above. Leave 3 to 5 inches in diameter. Specimens from near 

 the coast are identical with the Siberian plant, the stems 2 to 3 fc et high, sometimes weak at the 

 base, either smooth or sparingly pubescent above, the flowers blue or purple. In the Sierra 

 Nevada and eastward a larger form occurs, 3 to 6 feet high, more pubescent above, the sepals 

 larger and pale blue or white, and the petals smaller. Rather rare. 



11. ACTJEA, Linn. BANEBERRY. 



Sepals 4 to 6, nearly equal, petal-like, falling off early. Petals 4 to 10, small. 

 Stamens numerous. Pistils single ; stigma sessile, 2-lobed. Fruit a many-seeded 

 berry. Seeds smooth, flattened, packed horizontally in 2 rows. Perennial herbs, 

 with 2 - 3-ternately compound leaves. Eoot usually tuberous or thickened. Flowers 

 in a terminal short raceme. 



Species perhaps 2, belonging to the cooler regions of the Northern Hemisphere. 



1. A. spicata, Linn., var. arguta, Torr. Fruit either white or red, in a loose 

 more elongated raceme. A. arguta, l^utt. ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 35. 



Shady ravines of the Coast Ranges north of San Francisco. Rare in this State, but a widely 

 spread species, extending north to Alaska, east to New England and Canada ; also to Japan ; 

 Siberia, and Northern Europe. A smooth herb with graceful habit, 1 to 2 feet high. The stem 



