16 



BULLETIN 1245, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



season, as in certain parts of the Sierras, the period of blossoming 

 continues late into the summer, so that poisoning cases may occur at 

 any time during the season. 



The seeds of the tall larkspurs are very poisonous, but they are 

 not eaten to any extent by cattle. 



Monkshood (Aconitum columbianum) 



Plate 9 is a picture of the ordinary monkshood or aconite and is 

 inserted in order that it may be compared with the pictures of the 

 larkspur, and the similarity noted. Monkshood, as is well known, is 

 a poisonous plant, but somewhat extensive experimental work by the 

 Department of Agriculture has demonstrated that it does not poison 

 livestock on the range. It is important, therefore, that this plant 

 should be distinguished from larkspur, because in some localities 



it occurs in great abun- 

 dance, while larkspur 

 is comparatively rare. 

 This is true of certain 

 parts of the Yellowstone 

 Park, where in some lo- 

 calities the swampy re- 

 gions are blue with 

 monkshood in the sum- 

 mer months, while the 

 larkspur is only rarely 

 met with. In other parts, 

 however, like the region 

 between the Yellowstone 

 Lake and the Grand 

 Canyon, the larkspur is 

 very abundant and the 

 monkshood compara- 

 tively rare. 



Flowers of the monks- 

 hood have the peculiar 

 form from which the 

 plant has received its 

 name, and in most re- 

 gions they are much 

 darker in color than the 

 larkspurs. Generally speaking, in the monkshoods of the West the 

 flowers are of a very deep blue. There are localities, however, in 

 which the shades of color are much lighter, almost the exact shades of 

 the violet and purple that are more typical of the larkspurs, while in 

 other places the flowers are almost white. 



The roots of the tall larkspur are long, tough, and fibrous, while the 

 roots of monkshood are short and tuberlike, with golden-yellow root- 

 lets. The stem of the tall larkspur is hollow, whereas the stem of the 

 monkshood is pithy. 



Low Larkspur 



Plate 10 is a typical picture of the low larkspur which is most 

 widely spread throughout the western ranges. This species is Del- 

 phinium menziesii, probably the most destructive of the low lark- 



Figueb 8. — Barbey larkspur, Delphinium barbeyi, leaves 

 and flow rrs 



