DELPHI'NIUM VENUS'^rUM. 
PRETTY ].ARKSPUR. 
Class. Order. 
POLYANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
RANUNCULACE^. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Introduced 
India. 
2 feet. 
August. 
Perennial. 
in 1840.? 
No. 1028. 
The systematic name, Delphinium, which was 
adopted for the Larkspur, by Linneus, subsequently 
to its use by several of his predecessors, was dedu- 
ced from the Greek delphinion. The term was 
applied by the ancients, either to the Larkspur or 
Aconite, from the Dolphin-like appearance of the 
flower, before its e.xpansion. Gerard, who pub- 
lished his Herbal in 1590, was very minute in his 
details respecting the names of plants, and many 
modern botanists have given their attention to this 
subject. The late Sir James Edward Smith, the 
elegant and moral flowings of whose highly cultiva- 
ted mind, will long continue a pattern for succeed- 
ing botanists, once told us that he had devoted 
much time to this subject, when writing the botan- 
ical articles for Rees's Cyclopiedia. It may be 
mentioned that he was the author of the whole of 
the botanical part of this work, subsequently to the 
letter C. 
As a specimen of Gerard's style of dealing with 
the names of plants, we will copy his observations 
on the Delphinium or Larkspur. It exhibits a 
fair specimen of his style. He says, “ Lark’s heel 
