CROWFOOT FAMILY 



Some of these blues are pale as the sky, some pure-cobalt, others 

 indigo, and still others are a strange broken blue, gorgeous and in- 

 tense, yet impure, glittering on the surface as if it were strewn 

 with broken glass, and sometimes dark- 

 ened into red. The centre of a Lark- 

 spur is often grotesque, the hairy 

 petals suggest a bee at the heart of the 

 flower, and the flower itself looks like 

 a little creature poised for flight. In 

 structure the garden race has changed 

 very little from the primitive type, 

 though that type has wandered far 

 from the simplicity of the buttercup 

 which names the RanunculacecB. 

 Whatever path of evolution the Lark- 

 spur has trod, it is very clear that the 

 goal at which it has arrived is cross- 

 fertilization by means of the bee. At 

 some time along the path the calyx 

 took on the duties of the corolla, be- 

 came highly colored, developed a spur 

 while at the same time the corolla lessened both in size and in 

 importance. The stamens mature before the pistil and are so 

 placed that the bee cannot get at the honey without covering 

 her head with pollen which she then bears to another flower. 

 The stigma of any blossom is not in evidence until the anthers 

 have passed. 



MONKSHOOD. ACONITE 



Aconitum napellus. 



A hardy, erect perennial, with poisonous juices; bearing flowers of 

 singular shape; formerly much used in borders. Native to central 

 Europe. July and August. 



Root. — Tuberous, turnip-shaped. 

 Stem.—TzW, erect, three to six feet high. 

 Leaves. — Alternate, deeply cut. 



i68 



Delphinium. Delphinium 



