58 
PLANTS OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 
Low larkspur {Delphinium nelsonii) blooms early in the season. It 
grows only 4 to 12 inches high and produces several blue flowers. 
The sepals are shorter than the spur, and the lower petal is two- 
cleft and has a tuft of hair near the middle. The leaves are rather 
firm and palmately divided into narrow segments. 
Delphinmm bicolor is similar but the two upper petals are yel¬ 
lowish with prominent dark blue veins. 
Duncecap larkspur {Delphinium cucullatum) grows from 3 to 6 feet 
tall and blooms later in the season. 
Delphinium glcmcescens , D. nuttallianum , D. simplex , and D. scopu- 
lorum have also been reported in the park. 
Monkshood {Aconitum columbianum) .--The flowers of the monks¬ 
hood are irregular, but quite different from those of the larkspur. 
Figure 38.—Low larkspur. Blue. Photo- Figure 39.—Monkshood. Blue. Photo¬ 
graph by Geoffrey Coope. graph by Dr. Frank R. Oastler. 
The upper sepal, instead of being spurred, is helmet-shaped or hood- 
shaped, while the two upper petals are spurred, but the spurs are 
concealed within the hood of the sepal. The three lower petals are 
very small or sometimes absent. The stem is stout and 3 to 7 feet 
tall. The leaves are palmately lobed or cleft to near the middle. The 
flowers vary from deep blue to nearly white. 
Myosurus apetalus. —A small plant with a tuft of narrow 
basal leaves and whitish flowers on stems that are only one or 
two inches high. The flowers have 5 sepals that are spurred at 
the base and sometimes 5 petals though more often the petals are 
lacking. There are 5 to 20 stamens and many pistils which mature 
into a little cylindrical spike of akenes. This gives the plant its 
common name and also makes it look like a very small plantain. 
