90 KEY AND FLORA 
terminal racemes or panicles, showy. Sepals 5, colored, irregu- 
lar, the upper one prolonged into a spur. Petals 4, unequal, 
the two upper ones with long spurs which are inclosed in the 
spur of the upper sepal, the other two short-stalked. Pistils 
1-5; ovaries many-seeded.* 
1. D.tricorne Michx. Dwarr Larkspur. Perennial. Stem simple, 
from a tuberous root, usually low ({-1 ft. high), but sometimes 
2 ft. high. Leaves deeply 5-parted, the divisions irregularly 3—5-cleft. 
Racemes few-flowered, loose. Flowers blue, sometimes white. Pods 
diverging. Southward. 
2. D.azureum Michx. Brue Larkspur. Perennial. Stem usually 
simple, slender, downy, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves 2—5 in. wide, 3-5-parted, 
the divisions cleft into 3-5 narrow, toothed, or entire lobes. Flowers 
in a strict, many-flowered, terminal raceme, showy, blue or whitish. 
Spur ascending, curved; lower petals bearded, 2-cleft. Pods erect. 
On rich or rocky soil in open places, N.* 
XIII. ACONITUM L. 
Erect, perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed 
or cut. Flowers irregular, in panicles or racemes. Sepals 5, 
the back one large, arched, and hooded, the front one the 
narrower. Petals 2—5, small, the 2 back ones clawed and 
covered by the hood of the sepals; 5 lateral ones small or 
wanting. Follicles 3-5. Seeds many, wrinkled. 
1. A. Napellus L. Monksmoop. An erect, poisonous plant, 1-2 ft. 
high. Raceme simple and densely flowered. Flowers dark blue. Cul- 
tivated from Europe. 
Several native species of Aconitum occur within our limits, but 
they are not common. 
XIV. ACTHA L. 
° 
Perennial. Stem simple. Leaves 2-5, compound in threes; 
leaflets ovate, sharply cut or toothed. Flowers white, in a 
short and thick terminal raceme. Sepals 4—5, soon deciduous. 
Petals 4-10, small. Pistil single; stigma 2-lobed. Fruit a 
many-seeded berry.* 
1. A. rubra Willd. Rep Banenerry. Stem about 2 ft. high. 
Raceme ovoid or hemispherical. Petals acute. Pedicels slender. 
Berries usually red, sometimes white, ovoid. Common N. 
