46 RANTJNCULACE^E. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 



rarely only 2 united into one. Pistils 1-5, forming many-seeded pods in fruit. 



— Leaves palmately divided or cut. Flowers in terminal racemes. (Name 

 from Delphin, in allusion to the shape of the flower, which is sometimes not 

 unlike the classical figures of the dolphin.) 



* Perennials, indigenous ; pistils 3-5. 



1. D. exalt&tum, Ait. (Tall Larkspur.) Leaves deeply 3-5-cleft; 

 the divisions narrow wedge-form, diverging, 3-cleft at the apex, acute ; racemes 

 wand-like, panicled, many-flowered; spur straight; pods 3, erect. — Rich soil, 

 Penn. to Michigan and southward. July. — Stem 2° -5° high. Flowers 

 purplish-blue, downy. 



2. D. tric6me, Michx. (Dwarf L.) Leaves deeply 5-parted, their di- 

 visions unequally 3 - 5-cleft ; the lobes linear, acutish ; raceme few-flowered, loose ; 

 spur straightish, ascending ; pods strongly diverging. — W. Penn. to Illinois and 

 southward. April, May. — Root a tuberous cluster. Stem simple, 6'- 12' 

 high. Flowers bright blue, sometimes white. 



3. D. aztireum, Michx. (Azure L.) Leaves deeply 3 -5-parted, the 

 divisions 2-3 times cleft ; the lobes all narrowly linear ; raceme strict ; spur as- 

 cending, usually curved upwards ; pods erect. — Wisconsin, Illinois, and south- 

 ward. May, June. — Stem 1 ° - 2° high, slender, often softly pubescent. Flow- 

 ers sky-blue or whitish. 



* * Annual, introduced: pistil single. 



4. D. Consolida, L. (Field L.) Leaves dissected into narrow linear 

 lobes ; racemes rather few-flowered, loose ; pedicels shdrter than the bracts ; 

 petals all combined into one body. — Pennsylvania and Virginia, escaped from 

 grain-fields or gardens; and sparingly along roadsides farther north. (Nat. 

 from Eu.) 



15. ACONtTTJM, Tourn. Aconite. Monkshood. Wolfsbane. 



Sepals 5, petal-like, very irregular ; the upper one (helmet) hooded or hel- 

 met-shaped, larger than the others. Petals 2 (the 3 lower wanting entirely, or 

 very minute rudiments among the stamens), consisting of small spur-shaped 

 bodies raised on long claws and concealed under the helmet. Pistils 3-5. 

 Pods several-seeded. Seed-coat usually wrinkled or scaly. — Perennials, with 

 palmately cleft or dissected leaves, and showy flowers in racemes or panicles. 

 (The ancient Greek and Latin name, said to be derived from Acone, in Bithynia.) 



1. A. uncinatum, L. (Wild Monkshood.) Glabrous; stem slender, 

 erect, but weak and disposed to climb ; leaves deeply 3 - 5-lobed, petioled ; the 

 lobes ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed ; flowers blue ; helmet erect, obtusely conical, 

 compressed, slightly pointed or beaked in front. — Rich shady soil along streams, 

 S. W. New York, and southward along the mountains. June -Aug. 



2. A. reclinatum, Gray. (Trailing Wolfsbane.) Glabrous ; stems 

 trailing (3° -8° long) ; leaves deeply 3-7-cleJl, petioled, the lower orbicular in 

 outline; the divisions wedge-form, incised, often 2 - 3-lobed ; flowers tvhite, in 

 very loose panicles ; helmet soon horizontal, elongated-conical, with a straight beak 

 in front. — Cheat Mountain, Virginia, and southward in the Alleghanies. Aug. 



— Lower leaves 5' -6' wide. Flowers 9" long, nearly glabrous. 



