“ sects thus abstaining from these plants, is, that the leaves are not dis- 
native site is Mount Hymettus, near Athens, celebrated alike for its 
marble and its honey. Both these productions of this locality are 
frequently alluded to by ancient authors, and the source of the latter 
is alluded to by a modern writer, whose prose is scarcely less poetic 
than his verse. ‘What is Greece at this present moment? It is the 
country of the heroes from Codrus to Philopeemen, and so it would 
be, though all the sands of Africa should cover its corn fields and olive 
gardens, and not a flower were left on Hymettus for a bee to murmur 
in.” Coleridge’s Friend, Vol. I, p. 202. For the present state of Hy- 
mettus, see Hobhouse’s Journey through Albania, Letter XXVI, p- 388. 
_ The seeds of Delphinium staphisagria yield an alcaloid, called 
Delphinia, which exists in it in the state of a malate of Delphinia, and 
which is possessed of great virulence. It probably exists in the other 
species of the genus, not only in the seeds, but probably also in the 
leaves. It is remarkable that insects do not prey upon the leaves of 
any species of Delphinium, which may possibly be owing to the fine 
instinct with which they are endowed, indicating to them the presence 
of a principle which would be detrimental. The consequence of in- 
figured by their ravages, but remain whole till they wither and fall off. 
This renders them desirable objects of cultivation ; but they should be 
placed out of the reach of children, as the poisonous properties they 
possess might cause fatal accidents. 
INTRODUCTION ; WHERE GROWN; CULTURE. The Delphinium 
tenuissimum was gathered near Athens by Dr. Sibthorp, and pub- 
lished in the Flora Greea ; but not cultivated in England till the year 
1836, when seeds were transmitted to several botanical establishments 
in this country from the Imperial Garden of St. Petersburg. Our 
drawing was made from a specimen supplied by Mr. Shepherd of the 
Liverpool Botanic Garden. It perfects seeds in the open ground, and 
may be raised as other hardy annuals. 
Derivation or THe Names. 
Devrurstom, from Asko, DELPHIN,a dolphin, from a resemblance of the 
nectary ginary fig fthe dolphin. The English name of the 
s Lark-spur, from the spur of the calyx resembling that of the foot of a lark. 
TENUIssIMUM, very slender, the superlative of tenuis, slender. 
SyNnonyMEs. 
DELPHINIUM TENUISSIMUM. Sibthorp, Flora Greea, plate 505. Prodromus, 
Vol. I, p.370. Decandolle, Systema Naturale Regni Vegetabilis, Vol. I, p. 345. 
Decandolle, Prodromus Systematis Universalis Regni Vegetabilis, Pars I, p. 
52. Don in Sweet's British Flower Garden, folio 366 
DELPHiInium pivanicatum. Ledebour in Fischer et Meyer Ind. Sem. Hort. 
Imper. Petrop. 1835. 
