ranunculace.-e. 41 



Plate 15. 

 DELPHINIUM, Tourn. 



Calyx 5-sepalus, petaloideus, irregularis ; sepalo extimo 

 majore basi calcarato. Petala 4, biformia (nonnunquam inter 

 se coalita) ; 2 superiora in appendicem calcariformem inter 

 calcar calycinum retrusum producta. Folliculi 1-5, poly- 

 spermy — Folia palmatifida vel bi - triternatisecta. 



Delphinium, Tourn. Inst. t. 241. Linn. Gen. 861. GiErtn. Fr. t. 65. 

 Schkuhr, Handb. 1. 145. DC. Syst. 1. p. 340. Endl. Gen. 4796. 



Larkspur. 



Calyx petaloid, of 5 irregular sepals, imbricated in aesti- 

 vation ; the larger and upper sepal (outermost in the bud) 

 produced backwards from the base into a large hollow spur ; 

 the others plane, spreading, all deciduous. Petals 4, small- 

 er than the sepals, hypogynous, irregular and unsymmetri- 

 cal, in two pairs ; the upper produced backwards from the 

 insertion into spurs which are received into the spur of the 

 calyx ; the lower unguiculate, often with the lamina two- 

 cleft : or all four petals coalescent into one body of irregular 

 form in § Consolida (which is also remarkable for having a 

 single pistil). Stamens numerous, hypogynous, short and 

 included : filaments subulate from a dilated base : anthers 

 oval, innate, the cells opening longitudinally. Pistils 3 or 

 5, sometimes only one, sessile : ovary one-celled, many- 

 ovuled : style subulate : stigma unilateral at the (entire or 

 two-toothed) apex. Ovules indefinite, horizontal in two se- 

 ries, occupying the whole length of the ventral suture, ana- 

 tropous ; the raphes collateral. 



Follicles sessile, chartaceous, pointed with the short 

 style, few -many-seeded, dehiscent down the ventral suture. 

 Seeds in two series, horizontal ; the rather fleshy or spongy 

 4 



