OP ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS. 5 
the back, whence tlie name. It is a native of Egypt and the isle of Cyprus, and from the description appears 
to be the handsomest of the genus. DecandoUe, in his " Prodromm, " calls it A. dentcUa var. orientalit, and 
mentions another A. dentaia, a native of France, which has flame-coloured flowers, but which resembles the 
Egyptian plant in its crested seed -pods. 
GENUS II. 
DELPHINIUM Lin. THE LARKSPUR. 
Lin. Syst. POLYANDRIA TRIGYNIA. 
Generic Character. — Calyx deciduous, petal-liko, irregular, with 
the upper sepal drawn out below into a spur. Petals 4 ; 2 upper ones 
drawn out at the base into appendages, within the spur. — G. Don. 
Erect, or branching herbs, with piilmately-multifid leaves, and showy 
flowers. Twenty-three species are annuals. Natives of the south of 
Europe, and north of Africa ; also, of Asia Minor, and Nepaul in Asia, 
and Penusylvania and Virginia in North America. 
Description, &c. — The flowers of the larkspur are so common that they do not excite half the attention that 
their curious construction well deserves. In them the sepals of the calyx, and the true petals of the flower, at 
first sight, can scarcely be distinguished from each other. When examined closely, however, the calyx will be 
found to be composed of five sepals, one of which forms a kind of horn, and the shape of which is visible in the 
bud. When the flower expands, the true petals show themselves : they are four in number, and two of them have 
long tails, which are hidden in the homed sepal. This curious construction has given rise to both the English 
aud botanic names ; the homed sepal being something like the hind claw of the foot of the lark, and the bud 
bearing a fancied resemblance to a dolphin ; delphinium signifying a dolphin. The old English name was 
lark's-heels ; and the Nasturtium (Tropseolum majus) was called yellow lark's-heels. 
1.— DELPHINIUM CONSOLIDA Lin. THE BRANCHING, OR WILD LARKSPUR. 
Sytjonyme. — D. segctum. Lam. 
Engravings — Eng. Bot. t. 1839; 2nd edit. vol. v. t. 769; and 
our Jig. S, in Plate 3, of the single pink variety. 
Specific Character. — Stem erect, flmootliish, with spreading 
branches; flowers few, loosely racemose ; pedicels (footstalks) longer 
than the bracteas ; carpels smooth, (G. Don.) 
Varieties. — These are very numerous, even in a wild state. D. 
consulida is found with red, pale-reddish, lilac, pinkish, and white 
flowers, though the usual colour is a very dark blue. The garden 
varieties are generally double, and they consist of rfie white, blush, rose- 
coloured, lilac, light purple, dark purple, and striped, which last if 
sometimes also called unique. 
Description, &c. — The branching larkspur, in good soil and favourable situations, will grow to the height 
of two feet or three feet, with numerous, slender, spreading, alternate branches. The leaves spring from the 
branches without footstalks ; they are downy, and are divided into numerous linear segments. The flowers are 
thinly set on the raceme, and being on footstalks, hang much more loosely than those of the rocket larkspur (J). 
Ajacis). The sepals in the wild flower of D. consolida are of a dark-blue on one side, and have a pinkish tinge on 
the other : the petals are pinkish, and form a curious kind of hood in the centre of the flower. The carpels grow 
generally two together ; they contain numerous seeds, which are black and sliining, and the taste of which 
