10 
BULLETIN 1245. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
aconites of the West tlie 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 aconite are short and tuberlike, with golden-yellow root- 
lets. The stem of the tall larkspur is hollow, while the stem of the 
aconite is pithy. 
Low Larkspur. 
Plate VII is a typical picture of the low larkspur which is most 
widely spread throughout the western ranges. This species is Del- 
phinium mensiesii, probably the most destructive of the low lark- 
spurs, due to the fact that it occurs in such enormous masses. There 
Fig. 8. — A group of plants of the tall larkspur {Delphinium barbef/i), growing in 
natural surroundings. The white background brings out the plants more clearly. 
This species is the most widely distributed of the tall larkspurs ami is responsible 
for greater losses of cattle than any other species. It extends from Colorado to 
the Sierras. 
are regions in Colorado and Utah where many acres are almost 
carpeted with these plants. They occur early in the spring, imme- 
diately after the snow disappears, growing more rapidly than the 
grasses, so that in some regions they seem for the time almost to 
preempt the soil. These low larkspurs blossom comparatively early 
in the season, and in Colorado D. nienziesii dries up and disappears 
not far from the first of July. Consequently the cases of poisoning 
from low larkspurs occur almost entirely in May and June. 
It will be noted that the leaves of the low larkspurs are quite 
different from those of the tall Larkspurs, but are easily recognized 
niter one becomes fairly familiar with them. 
There is another low larkspur, occurring quite commonly in 
.Monhiiia. Delphinium bicolor^ which is typical of somewhat lower 
