DELPHINIUM. 



105 



plantations, in good rich soil. Division 



Delphinium elegans (Elegant Lark- 

 spur). A neat border plant, 1 to 2 ft. 

 high. Flowers, in summer; dark 

 blue, smaller than those of D. grandi- 

 fiorum, in loose, few-flowered racemes ; 

 petals shorter than the calyx; spur 

 curved, shorter than the sepals ; limb 

 of lower petals bifid. Leaves, smooth, 

 5-parted, with 3- to 5- cleft lobes, and 

 linear-lance-shaped acute lobules; 

 stalks scarcely widening at the base. 

 There is a double variety. N. Ame- 

 rica. Borders in good soil. Division 



and seed. 



Delphinium formosum (Showy D.) 

 A very handsome kind, 18 in. to 

 3 ft. high, flowers, in summer and 

 autumn; a fine azure blue, shaded 

 with indigo; spur of a violet blue, 

 rather long, two-cleft, and having 

 a rumpled appearance ; petals shorter 

 than the sepals. Leaves, alternate, of a 

 greyish-green, palmate with unequal 

 segments, the lower ones stalked, the 

 upper ones sessile and simply tripar- 

 tite. Native country unknown. 



Borders and fringes of shrubberies in 

 good soil. Division and seed. 



Delphinium grandiflorum (Large- 

 flowered D.) One of the handsomest 

 kinds, 1 to 3 ft. high. Flowers, in 

 summer ; from June to September, 

 blue, very large, in spreading few- 

 flowered racemes ; petals shorter than 

 the calyx ; limb of lower ones entire, 

 somewhat orbicular. Leaves, smooth, 

 light green above, hoary beneath, 

 palmately divided into many narrow 

 lobes. There is a fine double variety 

 (D. g. plenum). D. sinense, is a variety 

 differing chiefly in having a stiffer and 

 more erect stem than the species, and 

 the two lower petals bearded with 

 yellow hairs. There are several other 

 varieties, both double and single, 

 varying in colour from deep blue to 

 white. The best of these are one 



with white flowers (D. g. Jl. alb.), 

 another dwarf kind (D. g. pumilum 

 cceruleum) with blue flowers, and one 

 (D. g. pumilum album) with white 

 flowers. Siberia and Dauria. Bor- 

 ders and fringes of shrubberies in good 

 soil. Division and seed. 



Delphinium intermedium (Interme- 

 diate D.) 4 to 8 ft. high. Flowers, 

 in summer ; in glaucous racemes ; 

 sepals blue ; petals very hairy, almost 

 black, the limb of the lower ones 

 bifid ; pedicels, bracts, calyx, and 

 ovaries smooth. Leaves, heart-shaped, 

 5- to 7-cleft, upper ones 3-lobed, all 

 deeply serrated. There are several 



varieties of this species. Europe. 



Borders, in good soil. Division or seed. 



Delphinium nudicaule (Dwarf Red 

 D.) A singularly brilliant and re- 

 cently introduced dwarf kind, 10 to 

 18 in. high. Flowers, early in summer, 

 in a loose raceme; vivid red, inclining 

 to orange, the petals clear yellow, 

 lower ones spoon-shaped, with a 2- 

 cleft, fringed limb ; upper ones elon- 

 gated, prominent, hairy at the ends ; 

 spur nearly twice as long as the 

 smooth calyx. Leaves, fleshy, some- 

 what peltate, 3-parted, with numerous 

 subdivisions, which in the lower leaves 

 are obcordate with notched lobes, and 

 in the upper ones oblong entire. 



California. On warm flanks of the 



rock-garden, or on warm banks or 

 borders till plentiful, in light, well- 

 drained, sandy loam. Increased by 

 seeds. This plant is as yet rare, and 

 few have had any experience of its 

 culture, but as it grows on the hills 

 and plains near San Francisco, in 

 gravelly and very sandy places, it 

 certainly will be the better of a sandy 

 and thoroughly drained loam in this 

 country. 



[Hybrids and varieties of Delphi- 

 nium, of the highest order of beauty, 

 have been raised in such abundance 

 that they are now of greater impor- 



