57 
DELPHINIUM CHEILANTHUM, VAR. IIEXDERSONI. 
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DELPHINIUM CHEILANTHUM, Var. HENDERSON!. 
W«i. Order , II an tjn c u lacejb . 
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Generic Charactee. —Delphinium, Tournefort. Calyx co¬ 
loured, of five sepals ; sepals imbricated in aestivation, unequal, 
the outermost produced into a hollow spur at the base, all de¬ 
ciduous. Corolla of four hypogynous petals, free or coalescent 
above into one piece, open at the top; the fifth upper petal want¬ 
ing ; the two inferior produced at the base into an appendix 
(internal spur) contained in the spur of the calyx. Stamens 
numerous, hypogynous. Ovaries mostly three, more rarely one 
or five, free, one-eelled; ovules on the ventral suture, numerous, 
in two rows. Capsule follicular, membranous, beaked with 
the style, dehiscing longitudinally down the ventral suture. 
Seeds angular, with a spongy membranous testa.— ( JEndlicher , 
Gen. P/ant. 479G.) 
Delphinium cheilantkum, Fischer. —Stem erect, branching; 
leaves five-parted; lobes oblong, acuminated, sub-trifid, sub- 
dentate ; pedicels longer than the bracts; petals shorter than 
the calyx, the two inferior with an obliquely-inflexed, ovate, 
entire limb ; capsules with a coloured reticulation, pubescent. 
Var. Hendersoni, Henderson’s Bee-Larkspur.—Flowers azure 
blue, veined, the discs of the lower petals with a yellow beard; 
capsules glabrous. 
B ESCRIPTION.—A hardy herbaceous perennial, with large, showy, rather distant flowers. 
Leaves five-parted, the lobes oblong and acuminated, trifid or obscurely bi-trifid, four inches 
in diameter, on long petioles ; floral leaves three-parted, with the lobes broadly linear, acumi¬ 
nated, simple. Racemes axillary and terminal, lax; the pedicels longer than the bracts. 
Flowers large and showy, ultramarine blue, with veins a little deeper; two lower petals with 
a roundish ovate limb, obliquely indexed and whitish in the middle, bearing a yellow beard, 
slightly irregular on the margins, with a few ciliary hairs at the apex. Ovaries three, gla¬ 
brous, green, veined with blackish lines.—A. H. 
History, kc .—We learn from Mr. E. G. Henderson, of St. John’s Wood, in whose 
Nursery the plant from which our drawing was made, has been bloomed, that the variety is 
one raised by M. Chauvier, of Paris, of whom the seedling plant was purchased by Mr. Hen¬ 
derson. It proves to be a free grower, and in the size of its flowers, and the brightness of its 
colour, surpasses every other Bee-Larkspur we have seen. Our drawing was made from, the 
blooming plant early in July of the present year. 
Culture. —For the flower-border, or for large beds, this hardy perennial herb will be 
quite an acquisition. All the Delphiniums grow freely in a rich, open, loamy soil, and prefer a 
situation where the subsoil is cool, and the subjacent earth not very liable to parch diming the 
growth of the plant. In fat, rather damp, peaty soil, they grow also with great vigour, and 
generally assume a deeper green colour in the foliage, if not a richer hue in the flowers, under 
such circumstances. They are propagated readily by dividing the plants just after they start 
into growth, and also by seeds; the latter mode, however, is hardly to be depended on for the 
perpetuation of the kinds, as there is a tendency to variation in the progeny.—M. 
THE CIRCULATION OF “ SAP’’ IN VEGETABLE TISSUES. 
By J. TOWERS, Esq., C.M.H.S. 
J/1HE movements of the sap in trees and shrubs are subjects of inquiry and deep interest with the 
IX vegetable physiologist. Several articles have appeared during the present year, in one or more of 
the horticultural periodicals—none of which, after attentive perusal, have led to any satisfactory con¬ 
clusion. To one of them, indeed, from the pen of, I believe, an eminent practical gardener, I devoted 
particular attention, as it gave the details of a protracted experiment, which appeared at first rather 
startling. The original article is lost, or so mislaid, that I cannot cite any extract from it now; but 
the leading fact announced made it appear that a long and vigorous shoot near the lowest part of a 
vine under glass (not fruitful, but developed in 1SJ9), was selected for experiment, and divested in the 
early part of this year of all its buds save three or four at the upmost extremity. These were the sole 
remaining channels of the sap, and when the ascent became manifest by their enlargement, the branch 
(fifteen feet or more long) full of juice, was severed from the tree at its origin from the trunk. 
After a time, and at certain periods of the day, but not continuously, a quantity of sap fell in drops 
from the lower extremity, thus proving, as it was argued, the descent of the sap through a great ex¬ 
tent of wood, which had for weeks been deprived of buds throughout perhaps nine-tenths of its length. 
The descent of the sap can only be proved by a series of correct experiments upon trees actually 
growing in soil, undisturbed by artificial processes; and who could by any appliances perform or 
carry through such a series ? Mr. Knight, of Downton, endeavoured to determine the channels 
VOL. n : I 
