16 BULLETIN 365, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Delphinium menziesh D. C. 
Delphinium memiesii (PL II, fig. 2, and Pis. Ill and XIII) is 
a perennial, growing from a cluster of small tuberous roots from 
which the stem is easily detached. The stem is slender, simple, and 
puberulent. The leaves are deeply cleft into segments which are 
linear in form. The flowers are deep violet-blue in color, on slender 
pedicels, and arranged in a loose raceme. There may be as few 
as four to six flowers, but they are more numerous on thrifty plants 
growing in favorable locations. 
Delphinium memiesii grows at altitudes of from 4,000 to 12,000 
feet. It is found on open hillsides and in parks, growing in great 
abundance. The picture of Pass Creek Park (PL III) gives an 
idea of the number of plants found in that locality. When they were 
in blossom the surface of Pass Creek Park as seen from a neighbor- 
ing hill presented a uniform blue appearance. In June, 1908, Su- 
pervisor Kreutzer, of the Gunnison National Forest, with the senior 
author, picked and counted 1,310 of the plants in blossom on a square 
rod near Crystal Creek, Gunnison County. 
Delphinium memiesii is widely distributed, being found from 
the Rocky Mountains to California and Oregon, and from Alberta 
to New Mexico. It appears soon after the snow has melted, and at 
high altitudes the plants may be found growing in immediate prox- 
imity to snow banks. It grows to a foot in height and the blossoms 
appear about the middle of May, the time of blossoming varying with 
the advancement of the season and the altitude. The seeds, which 
are formed the last of June, are immediately shed and the plant dies 
down and disappears. After the first week in July the plant is very 
rare except at the highest altitudes at which it grows. 
Delphinium bicoloe Nutt. 
Delphinium hicolor is a perennial growing from long fibrous 
fascicled roots. The stem is glabrous or pubescent, and the leaves 
deeply cut into linear lobes. The rather stout stem is short, not ex- 
ceeding 12 or 15 inches in height. The raceme has a few flowers much 
larger than those of Delphinium memiesii and of a deep violet-blue 
color. It is one of the most beautiful of the American larkspurs. 
It grows at a lower altitude than Delphinium memiesii and, so far 
as observed, never in such dense masses. Its range is given as from 
Washington and Oregon to South Dakota. It is the common low 
larkspur in Montana, and like D. memiesii, blossoms about the 
middle of May and disappears early in July. 
DETECTION OF LARKSPUR SPECIES IN STOMACH CONTENTS. 
In connection with these studies cases of poisoning not infre- 
quently occur in which the cause of death can not be determined 
