RANUNCULACE. 63 
branous, waved, transverse ridges. Whole plant dull green, finely 
pubescent. 
This plant has usually been considered by British writers as 
D. Consolida (Linn.). Mr. Baker was the first to draw attention to 
the fact that it was not that common Continental species. It 
is certainly the D. Ajacis of Reichenbach, Gay, and most of the 
Continental authors; but D. Ajacis of the Linnzean Herbarium 
is the D. orientale of Gay and Continental authors. Strictly 
speaking, D. orientale ought therefore to bear the name of Ajacis, 
and the present species receive a new specific appellation. As, 
however, the three plants are well known on the Continent by the 
names D. Consolida, D. Ajacis, and D. orientale, it is much better 
to continue to use these names than to introduce alterations and 
thereby cause confusion. 
Branching Larkspur. 
French, La Dauphinelle, Pied d’ Alouette. German, Der Rittersporn. 
The name of the genus is derived from ced (delphin), a dolphin, on account of 
the nectaries of the plant bearing a resemblance to imaginary figures of the dolphin. 
The specific name is said to have arisen from the fancy that the form of the letters 
A J A may be traced in the lines on the petals of the flower. This plant belongs to 
the same genus as the Stavesacre (D. Staphisagria) of our gardens, and contains the 
same active principle, which, when extracted, is known as delphinia. It is an irritant 
poison, and produces the same effects on the system as veratrine. 
SPECIES I1—DELPHINIUM CONSOLIDA. Linn. 
Puate XLVII. (B.)* 
Reich, Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. 1V. Ran. Tab. LX VI. Fig. 4669. 
Racemes very short, arranged in a sub-corymbose manner. 
Carpels glabrous. Follicle glabrous, ovoid, rather abruptly truncate 
at the apex. Style one-half to one-third as long as the rest of the 
carpel. Seeds with interrupted waved ridges. 
Cornfields in the Channel Islands. Probably only a casual 
straggler ; but I possess a specimen gathered in Jersey by Dr. 
Dickson, and sent by him to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, 
from which I received it. (D. Ajacis is not unfrequent in Jersey.) 
[Channel Islands.] Annual. Summer. 
Very similar to the last, but more branched, and the branches 
shorter and spreading. Leaves with narrower segments. Bracts 
* A small portion of the Jersey specimen has been drawn by Mr. J. E. Sowerby, 
and given in a corner of the plate of D. Ajacis. 
