Delphinium
(Greek name used by Dioscorides). Larkspur. ORD. Ranunculaceae. Very ornamental hardy annuals, biennials, or perennials, with erect branching habit. Flowers blue, purple, pink, or white, rarely yellow, racemed or panicled, bracteate; sepals five, petal-like, irregular, the upper one drawn out below into a spur; petals two to four, two upper ones drawn out at the base into appendages within the sepaline spur. Fruit a many-seeded follicle. Leaves stalked; cauline ones palmately-multifid. Although the plants belonging to this genus are of very easy cultivation, thriving in almost any position with fair treatment, yet like most other cultivated subjects, their real beauty and merit can only be estimated by bestowing special attention upon them. The soil should be dug to a good depth (if trenched, so much the better), and a liberal supply of well-rotted manure in-corporated. The distance between the plants should be 3ft. each way, if arranged by themselves in beds; or, if placed at the back of a mixed border--a position generally assigned to the tall perennial species or varieties, and one for which they are well adapted--8ft., or even more, may be allowed. The dwarf annuals, when cultivated in pots, are very ornamental for greenhouse decoration. Propagation. All the herbaceous sorts may be increased by root division, by cuttings, or by seeds. The first-named method is the best for perpetuating named varieties. The old plants should be cut down after flowering, when young growths will proceed from the base, and the whole may be lifted and carefully divided. Seeds of these often take a long time to germinate. Cuttings of the young shoots, taken off in either autumn or spring, root readily if inserted singly in pots, and placed in a cold frame; these will flower the following season, at the same time as the offsets. Seeds of the annual species or varieties may be sown out of doors, in a warm border, in April; or in pans, to be placed either in frames or outside. So soon as the plants are up, they should be pricked off into light, rich soil, where they will make rapid progress. There are numerous and beautiful hybrid varieties, with single, and also many with double, flowers; these are, for the most part, superior to the normal species, the most distinct of which are here described, all being perennials, except where otherwise stated.
D. Ajacis.* Common Larkspur. fl. showy blue, or sometimes, reddish or white, not numerous, in terminal racemes, sometimes forming an irregular panicle; spur of the calyx as long as the rest of the flower, or rather shorter; petals two. Summer. l., radical ones shortly stalked; stem ones sessile; all divided into fine linear, deeply-cut segments. Branches few, spreading. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. British cornfields (especially round Cambridgeshire). An erect, hairy annual. The specific name is said to have been derived from the supposition that the form of the letters A J A could be traced in the lines on the petals of the flower. In many works on the British Flora, the species D. consolida has been confused with this. A double-flowered form is shown at Fig. 631.
D. albiflorum (white-flowered). A synonym of D. hybridum ochroleucum.
D. azureum (blue).* fl. beautiful sky-blue, large; racemes straight; petals all bearded at the apex, lower ones very villous. May to July. l. three to five-parted, many-cleft, with linear lobes; petioles hardly dilated at the base. h. 3ft. North-west America, 1805. (B. R. 1999.)
D. Brunonianum (Brown's). fl. light blue, shading to purple on the margins, centre black; large. June and July. l., lower ones reniform, but divided into deeply-cut segments; upper ones tripartite. h. 6in. to 1ft. Thibet, 1864. A rare species, having a very strong musky odour. (B. M. 5461.)
D. cardinale (cardinal).* fl. bright scarlet, with the petal limbs distinctly yellow; disposed in spikes. August. l. smooth, deeply palmately-lobed, rather fleshy. h. 3ft. to 4ft. California. A very handsome annual species, remarkably well suited for borders or rockeries, with a good depth of rich soil to facilitate the development of its long fleshy roots. (B. M. 4887.)
D. cardiopetalum (heart-petaled). fl. dark bluish-violet; racemes crowded. June. l. smooth, ternate, with multifid segments and linear lobes; those of the branches, as well as the lower bracts, are multifid. Stem erect, a little branched. h. 1ft. Pyrenees, 1818. Annual.
D. cashmirianum (Kashmir).* fl. 1in. to 2in. across, with broad sepals, of a distinct pale blue colour, corymbose. July. l. tufted, with long petioles, palmately-lobed, 4in. or more across, deep green, slightly hairy. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Kashmir, 1875. (B. M. 6189.)
D. cheilanthum (lip-flowered). fl. dark blue; petals shorter than the calyx, two lower ones with obliquely-inflexed, ovate, entire limbs. June to September. l. five-parted, with oblong, acuminated, sub-trifid, and somewhat toothed lobes. Stem erect, branched. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Dahuria, 1819. (B. R. 473.)
D. consolida (consolidated). fl., racemes rather few-flowered, loose; pedicels shorter than the bracts; petals all combined into one body. Summer. l. dissected into narrow linear lobes. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Europe. Annual.
D. dasycarpum (hairy - fruited).* fl. beautiful blue, with dark brown petals, rather large; racemes simple, pubescent; pedicels thrice as long as the bracts. June. l. pubescent, five-lobed; lobes lanceolate, somewhat trifid, deeply toothed at the apex; petioles not dilated at the base. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Caucasus, 1819.
D. elatum (tall). A synonym of D. exaltatum.
D. exaltatum (exalted).* fl. blue, or sometimes white, middle-sized; racemes straight; spur straight, length of the calyx; limb of lower petals bifid. Summer. l. flat, cleft into three to seven parts beyond the middle, with wedge-shaped lobes, which are trifid or jagged, and acuminated at the apex; petioles not dilated at the base. h. 3ft. to 6ft. North America. 1758. SYN. D. elatum.(B.M.1791)
D. formosum (beautiful).* fl. sky-blue, shaded with indigo; spur rather long, two-cleft, of a violet hue; sepals longer than the petals; spikes long. Summer. l. alternate, greyish-green, unequally palmate, lower segments stalked, upper ones sessile and tripartite. h. 1 1/2ft. to 3ft. Orient. (F. d. S. 1185.) D. grandiflorum (large-flowered).* fl. blue, and the intermediate shades to white, either double or single, large; petals shorter than the calyx, two lower ones somewhat orbicular, with obliquely inflexed entire borders; racemes spreading, few-flowered, diverging. June. l. palmately many-parted into distant linear lobes. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Siberia, 1816. (B. M. 1686.) A very handsome plant, with several varieties, the best of which is perhaps chinensis, in which the racemes are many-flowered, lateral ones diverging. Other forms are: album (white), album-pleno (double-white), flore-pleno (double-blue-flowered), pallidum, and rubrum.
D. hybridum (hybrid). fl. blue, with the two lower petals bearded with white; racemes crowded; spur straight, longer than the flowers. June to August. l. many-parted, with linear lobes; petioles dilated and sheathing at the base. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Tauria, 1794. Lower part of the plant smooth, upper part velvety-pubescent.
D. h. ochroleucum (yellowish-white). fl. white, smooth on the outside; racemes elongated, crowded; bracts membranaceous, broad-lanceolate; spur straight, blunt, rather longer than the pedicel. July and August. l. many-parted, with linear lobes; petioles dilated and sheathing at the base. h. 3ft. Armenia, 1823. SYN. D. albiflorum.
D. laxiflorum (loose-flowered). fl. blue; racemes loose, branched. June. l. three to seven-lobed, with the lobes oblong, acute, deeply pinnatifid; upper ones somewhat three-parted, with narrow, entire lobes; petioles not dilated at the base. h. 4ft. to 6ft. Siberia. (B. R. 24, 30.)
D. mesoleucum (white-centred). fl. blue, with pale yellow or whitish petals. June. l. rather dilated at the base, with wedge-shaped segments, which are deeply serrated at the top. Upper part of the stem, as well as the peduncles, pubescent. h. 3ft. Native country unknown. 1822.
D. nudicaule (naked-stemmed).* fl. red; petals clear yellow, lower ones spathulate, with a two-cleft, fringed limb, upper ones elongated, prominent, hairy at the ends; spur nearly twice the length of the calyx; raceme loose. Summer. l. fleshy, somewhat peltate, tripartite; sub-divisions of lower leaves obcordate with notched lobes, which, in the upper ones, are oblong and entire. h. 10in. to 18in. California, 1869.(B. M. 5819.)
D. pictum (spotted). A synonym of D. Requienii.
D. Requienii (Requien's). fl. bluish, hispid; bracts inserted on the middle of the pedicels; spur almost as long as the calyx. June. l. on long stalks, lower ones cleft into five broad cuneated three to five-toothed lobes, upper ones divided into five-linear entire lobes. h. 1 1/2ft. Lower part of herb smooth, or scarcely pubescent, upper part hispid with long crowded spreading hairs. South-west Europe, 1824. Biennial. SYN. D. pictum.
D. Staphysagria (Stavesacre). fl. blue, loose, with whitish petals; bracteoles inserted at the base of the pedicels; spur very short; pedicels twice as long as the flower. May. l. five to nine-cleft. h. 2ft. to 3ft. South Europe, 1596. A large erect biennial herb. (B. M. P1. 4.)
D. tricorne (three-horned). fl. very beautiful blue; petals shorter than the calyx. May. l. five-parted, with three to five-cleft lobes, and linear lobules; petioles smooth, hardly dilated at the base. h. 9in. North America, 1806. (L. B. C. 306.)
D. triste (sad). fl. dark-brown, suffused with a little red at the edges of the sepals, and with a somewhat violaceous spur; racemes loose. July to September. l. three to five-parted; lobes narrow, somewhat pinnatifid, acute; upper leaves three-parted, with entire lobes; petioles not dilated at base. h. 2ft. Siberia, 1819.