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DELPHINIUM STAPHISAGRIA. 
DELPHINIUM STAPHISAGRIA. 
Pulmated Laj^kspur, Dolphin Flower, or Stavesacre.* 
Class, PoLYANDRiA. — Order, Trigvnia. 
Nat. Ord. MuLTisiLiQUiE, Linn. Ranunculace^, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Calyx 0. Petals 5, the upper one spurred. 
Nectary bifid, horned behind, three-capsuled. 
Spec. Char. Nectary 4-leaved, shorter than the petals. 
Leaves palmate, with the lobes obtuse. 
The Delphinium t tribe of plants appears to be nearly allied in 
habit, and bears a great resemblance to the Aconitura or monk's-hood. 
Botanists reckon twenty-four species, of which the greater number 
are perennial, two only being biennial ; of these, the Staphisagria is 
one. 
The Delphinium Pictum bears a great resemblance to the species 
here figured, it is the one usually cultivated, and is not unfrequently 
mistaken for the Staphisagria ; but the former may be distinguished 
from the latter by the length of the spurs, which in the Pictum are 
considerably larger than in the other ; the stem of the Pictum is 
likewise smooth, and the foot-stalks of the flowers much shorter. 
The figure here represented, is taken from the one delineated in the 
Flora Graeca, which we believe is almost the only correct repre- 
sentation of the plant. The stem is downy, smooth, erect, simple, 
purplish, and rises from one to two feet in height ; the leaves are 
palmated, dividing into five or seven lobes, which are ovate or lance- 
shaped, veined, downy, of the colour of the stem, from which they 
arise alternately, and are gradually shorter towards the top of the 
plant, so as to give the whole a regular conical shape ; the flowers, 
which appear in June, are large, bluish or purplish, stand upon long 
footstalks, and terminate the stem in an open spike ; the corolla is 
composed of five egg-shaped petals, the uppermost of which is 
extended backwards so as to form a hollow spur, or horn-like pro- 
* Fig. a, represents a spike of flowers of the natural size. h. The lower part of the 
stem (from which the spike was cat off) representing the leaf and seed vessel, c. The 
stamens, d. Nectary, e. The germens. 
t The Delphiniam Staphisagria is supposed to be the «ta<}>(; ay^io. of Dioscorides. 
