DEL 



DEL 



the approach of winter. Sec Fruit- and Fo- 

 bkst-Trees. 



This sort of trees and shrubs are in general 

 of hardy growth, being capable of succeeding 

 well in the full ground in different situations, 

 according to their kinds. 



Particular descriptions of the different sorts, 

 as well as of their habits of growth, culture, 

 management, and uses, are given under the ge- 

 nus to which they respectively belong. 



The proper seasons for removing this kind of 

 plants frotn the nursery or other places, and 

 planting them out where they are to remain, are 

 either the early spring or autumn, according to 

 the kind and the nature of the soil. In general, 

 where the land is dry, the latter is the more pro- 

 per and advantageous ; but in the contrary cir- 

 cumstances the former may be the more advi- 

 sable. In the planting out all trees, shrubs, and 

 other plants of this sort, sufficiently large open- 

 ings should be formed for the roots to be conve- 

 niently bedded in, after having been suitably 

 trimmed according to the kinds ; and the 

 mould be made tine and well mixed in with the 

 roots by slightly shaking the plants, and then 

 well trodden in about them. In the early plant- 

 ings at both seasons it is of much advantage, 

 especially when the weather is dry, to have them 

 well watered occasionally, and most of the sorts 

 should be kept steady in their situations by pro- 

 per stakes, as they never succeed well where this 

 is not the case. 



DELPHINIUM, a genus comprising plants 

 of the herbaceous flo\very hardy annual and 

 perennial kinds. Dolphin Flower. 



It belongs to the class and order Pohjaiidria 

 Trigynia, and ranks in the natural order of Mul- 

 tisuiqtuB. 



The characters are : that there is no calyx : 

 the corolla has five petals, unequal, disposed in 

 a circle ; of which the uppermost in some is 

 more obtuse than the rest in front, and is ex- 

 tended behind into a tubular, straight, long, ob- 

 i:; , horn: the rest ovate-lanceolate, spreading, 

 nearly equal : nectary two-cleft, seated in front 

 within the circle of petals on the upper part, 

 behind stretched out, involved within the tube 

 of the petal : the stamina have very many fila- 

 nients (fifteen or thirty), subulate, wider at the 

 base, very small, inclined towards Lhe petal : an- 

 thers erect, small : the pistillum consists of three 

 or one germ; ovate, ending in styles the length 

 of the stamens : stigmas simple, reflex : the pe- 

 ricarpium has as many capsules, ovate-subulate, 

 straight, one-valved, gaping inwards: the seeds 

 verymany, and cornered. 



The species mostly cultivated are : l.D.ad- 

 facfc, Upright Larkspur; 2. D. grandijlorum, 



Great-flowered Bee Larkspur, 3. D. elatum, 

 Tall Bee Larkspur. 



There are other species that maybe cultivated. 

 * The first is annual, and has the stalks eighteen 

 inches and more in height, seldom branched : the 

 leaves are finely divided, commonly by threes, on 

 broad petioles : the segments are linear, quite en- 

 tire, and channelled above ; the spike of flowers 

 erect, dense, and of different colours. 



There are \arieties with single and double 

 blue flowers ; with single and double purple 

 flowers; with single and double silver-coloured 

 flowers; with single and double violet-coloured 

 flowers; with single and double ash-coloured 

 flo-.vers; with single and double striped flowers; 

 Large Rocket Larkspur, and Dwarf or Rocket 

 Larkspur. 



The second species has a perennial root, which 

 puts out two or three branching stalks every 

 spring, rising about a foot and a half high: the 

 leaves are smooth and of a light green colour 

 above, and hoary beneath, composed of many 

 narrow segments, which terminate in several 

 acute points : 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. They appear in June and July, 

 and the seeds ripen in autumn. It is a native 

 of Siberia. 



The third rises to the height of a man: the 

 root is perennial: the leaves slightly villose, be- 

 coming smooth by age, half-five-lobed, petio- 

 led ; lobes acute, often half-three-lobed, sharp- 

 ly serrate. The spikes of flowers very long and 

 handsome, of a deep blue colour, with a wrink- 

 led spur. It is a native of Switzerland, &c. 

 flowering from June to September. 



Culture. — These plants, in all the sorts and va- 

 rieties, are propagated by sowing the seeds in the 

 early spring, as in February, March, or the fol- 

 lowing month, or in the autumn immediately 

 after the seeds become ripe, in the clum ps, borders, 

 or other places where the plants are to remain, as 

 they do not succeed so perfectly by transplant- 

 ing, in patches of eight or ten in a place, cover- 

 ing the seed in to the depth of nearly half an 

 inch, the mould being previously rendered tine. 



Where the annual sort and varieties are culti- 

 vated for a large show, the seed may be sown 

 thinly in drills on beds four feet broad, at a foot 

 distance, covering it in to the above depth. 

 They are sometimes sown in other forms for the 

 purpose of appearance. 



The autumn sowings of these seeds should be 

 marked by placing small sticks in the places, to 

 prevent their being disturbed by the spring dig 

 ging of the ground. 



The only culture the plants in general require 



