All the Perennial Larkspurs Worth Growing—By Wilhelm Miller, 
WHY THEY ARE THE MOST POPULAR BLUE FLOWERS AMONG HARDY PERENNIALS, 
THE ASTONISHING CONCLUSIONS REACHED BY RECENT INVESTIGATORS CONCERN- 
ING THE SPECIES THAT HAVE GIVEN RISE TO THE FAMOUS HYBRID LARKSPURS 
[Epiror’s Nore.—This is the seventeenth of the “ Little Monographs” which attempt to show what species are the best in each genus, and why.] 
| Pee perennial larkspurs are undoubt- 
edly the most popular blue-flowered 
hardy plants. And no wonder. ‘The spirit 
of the flower is aspiration itself, witness 
the towering spikes and the colors of 
the sky. “For two weeks in July the 
larkspur is the queen of the hardy border. 
And in the fall larkspurs give another good 
show of color though the spikes are not 
then so large and perfect. Interest in the 
larkspurs now centres in the hybrids, most 
of which bear the names of prominent people. 
The points of a good hybrid larkspur 
are: densely flowered spikes; many blossoms 
open at the same time; large individual 
flowers; rounded sepals; ability to stand 
without stakes; and above all good con- 
stitution, which implies resistance to blight. 
Six species are commonly said to have 
entered into these hybrids, but the con- 
clusions reached by the latest monographers 
The single flowered form of the modern hybrids. 
Spike sometimes two feet long 
are so astonishing that I have had the types 
traced from authentic pictures so that 
anyone may judge for himself this season 
which ones have been the most important 
in the evolution cf the best garden varieties. 
gry “Xs 
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Showing the peculiar structure of the larkspur 
flower. The five large showy parts (one spurred) are 
the sepals. There are generally only four small petals 
But first we must understand the structure 
of a larkspur flower, which is very interest- 
ing. The five showy parts are not petals, 
but sepals, although they perform the 
function of petals, i.e., attracting insects. 
One of these sepals has a long spur. 
The true petals are generally four, and 
the two upper ones have colorless spurs 
which run back into the spurred sepal. 
These upper petals are really nectaries, 
and the function of the blue spur is doubtless 
to keep bees from getting at the nectar 
by a short cut without cross-fertilizing the 
flowers. . 
The two lower petals are generally notched 
and bearded so as to suggest the hind legs 
of a bee at work in the flower, whence the 
name “bee larkspur.” 
I. THE HYBRID LARKSPUR OF BOTANISTS 
It is quite likely that D. hybridum of the 
botanists is not in cultivation, and that 
the nurserymen use this name collectively 
for the hybrids that have originated in 
cultivation. The true hybridum is dis- 
tinguished from all others species mentioned 
in this article by having leaf-stalks that 
sheathe about the stem. Its leaves are 
many times parted into linear segments. 
The flowers as first pictured were only 
three-eighths of an inch across. ‘There was 
once introduced a crimson flowered form 
of it known as var. puniceum. It is greatly 
to be hoped that this can be recovered, on 
the chance that it may prove to be easier to 
grow than the other red-flowered species. 
D. hybridum grows wild in Asia. 
TI. THE LARGE-FLOWERED LARKSPUR— 
GRANDIFLORUM 
The other perennial larkspur with leaves 
divided into many linear segments is D. 
grandiflorum, which is often said to be the 
214 
species that is chiefly responsible for the 
large individual flowers that the hybrids 
possess. The flower of grandiflorum was 
depicted as one and three-fourth inches 
across as long ago as 1760. On the other 
hand, it has only six to nine flowers in a 
loose cluster, which cannot be called a spike. 
It came originally from Siberia. 
The most famous variety of it is the 
Chinese larkspur. In other words, D. 
-Chinense of the nursery catalogues should 
be called D. grandiflorum, var. Chinense. 
This variety has never been distinguished 
by any characters of botanical importance. 
The gardeners are pretty well agreed that 
it is dwarfer and has larger and more numer- — 
ous flowers. It commonly grows one to — 
one and one-half feet high, while grandi- 
florum may be two and one-half feet.  __ 
The unique merit of the Chinese larkspur 
is that it will bloom earlier and give more 
The double garden larkspur is more massive and 
lasts better 
