12 



RANUNCULACE.E. Delphinium. 



Flowers red. 



8 D. nudicaule, Torr. & Gray. Smooth or slightly villous : stem 1 to 2 feet 

 hi^^h or more : leaves mostly near the base of the stem, 1 to 3 inches m 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 iTttle spreading; petals usually ciliate or somewhat villous 

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



carpels 



pubescent or smooth, — i^l. i. A6 ^ Obi ; nooK. i^ot. ivitig. u uoi^. 



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, in. 

 477. D. sarcophijllum. 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. 4bb7 ; 

 Torrey, Bot. Mex. Bound. 30, t. 2. D. coccmeum, Torrey, Pacif R. Eep. iv. 62. 



Apparently confined to the mountains of S. California ; Los Angeles ( IFallace) 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, Reichenb. 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. Columhianum, 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, Kamtsohatka, and Siberia. Stems smooth below and either 

 smooth or xvith short pubescence above. Leave 3 to 5 inches in diameter. Spe^cimens from near 

 the coast are identical with the Siberian plant, the stems 2 to 3 f 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. ACT.ffiA, Linn. Baxkberry. 



Sepals 4 to 6, nearly equal, petal-like, faUing 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. Root 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, Xutt. ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 35. 



Shadv 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 LJn^^^^ ? also to Japan ; 

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



