The members of this large and handsome family vary so much in
appearance that it is difficult for the amateur to realize that
they are nearly related. In fact they have no very distinctive
characteristics. They are all herbs, except Clematis, which is shrubby,
and all have bitter juice, which is never milky or colored, numerous
stamens and usually several pistils, which are superior and one-celled,
bearing a single style, and all the parts of the flower are separate
from each other and inserted on the receptacle. The flowers are often
of eccentric forms, with spurs or hoods; sometimes they dispense with
petals altogether and instead have colored sepals which resemble
petals. The leaves are of all sorts and shapes, usually more or less
lobed and cut, but have no stipules and often their bases clasp the
stem. The fruit is an akene, pod, or berry. Many of our most beautiful
and popular garden flowers are included in this family, which is large
and distributed throughout the world, but not abundant in the tropics.
There are numerous kinds of Ranunculus, mostly perennials, with fibrous
roots, growing in temperate and cold regions. Ours have yellow or white
flowers, with three to five sepals and from three to fifteen petals,
each of the petals with a nectar-gland at its base; the numerous
pistils developing into a roundish or oblong head of akenes. The leaves
are variously cut and lobed, the stem leaves alternate. Some sorts grow
in the water and some have creeping stems. Some kinds of Ranunculus are
liable to be confused with some sorts of Cinquefoils, but the calyx of
a Buttercup has no bractlets, as has that of a Cinquefoil. The Latin
name means "little frog," as these plants like marshes.
[Sidenote: =Common Western Buttercup=
_Ranúnculus Califórnicus_
=Yellow
Winter, spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
The commonest kind are attractive, often coloring the fields for miles
with bright gold, but the flowers are not so pretty as some common
eastern kinds. The stems are branching and more or less hairy, nine
inches to a foot and a half tall, with dark-green leaves, smooth, hairy
or velvety, and velvety, hairy buds. The flowers are about an inch
across, with from nine to sixteen, bright-yellow, shiny petals and
pale-green sepals, turned closely back. The akenes have hooked beaks.
This runs into many scarcely distinguishable varieties.
[Illustration: Common Western Buttercup--Ranunculus Californicus.]
Few flowers are more beautiful and interesting in color and
construction than Larkspurs. We are all familiar with their tall spires
of oddly-shaped blossoms, growing in gardens, and we find them even
more charming in their natural surroundings, glowing like sapphires on
desert sands, or adorning mountain woods with patches of vivid color.
There are many kinds; ours are perennials, with palmately-divided
leaves and usually blue or white flowers, very irregular in form, with
five sepals, resembling petals, the upper one prolonged into a spur at
the back, and usually four petals, two of which are small and inside
the calyx-spur, the larger two partly covering the pistils and the
numerous stamens. The pistils, from one to five, become many-seeded
pods. Some Larkspurs are poisonous to cattle. The Latin name is from
a fancied resemblance of the flower to the dolphin of decorative art.
Spanish Californians call it Espuela del caballero, Cavalier's spur.
[Sidenote: =Blue Larkspur=
_Delphínium scapòsum_
=Blue
Summer
Ariz., New Mex.=]
Though sometimes rather small, this is extremely pretty. In the Grand
Canyon, on the plateau, it is about a foot tall, with rather leathery,
brownish-green leaves, mostly from the root, and from five to twelve
flowers in a cluster. They measure nearly an inch across and are
brilliant and iridescent in coloring, as except for two small whitish
petals, they are the deepest, brightest blue, exquisitely tinted with
violet, with brown anthers. At Tucson, among the rocks above the Desert
Laboratory, it grows to over a foot in height, with a cluster over six
inches long and light dull-green leaves, slightly stiff and thick, with
long leaf-stalks, the lobes tipped with a bristle, forming a handsome
clump. This grows on dry plains and rocky hillsides, up to seven
thousand feet. The picture is from a Grand Canyon plant.
[Sidenote: =Larkspur=
_Delphínium Hánseni_
=White, pinkish
Summer
California=]
If the flowers were a little less pale in color this would be a
gorgeous plant, for it sometimes grows nearly four feet high. The
branching stem springs from a cluster of thick, tapering roots, each
branch terminating in a long, crowded cluster of twenty or thirty
flowers, opalescent in tint, either white, with a bluish or
greenish spot on the tip of each sepal, or very pale pink, with a
purplish or bluish spot. The dull, yellowish-green leaves are rather
thickish and downy, the pods erect. This grows in dryish places, at
moderate altitudes, and freely around Yosemite.
[Illustration: Foothills Larkspur--Delphinium scaposum.]
[Illustration: Larkspur--Delphinium Hanseni.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Blue Larkspur=
_Delphínium bícolor_
=Blue
Spring, summer
Northwest and Utah=]
A splendid flower when at its best, from six inches to a foot and a
half tall, with a smooth stem, reddish below, and smooth, bright-green
leaves, pale on the under side, round in general outline, the lower
ones with long, reddish leaf-stalks sheathing the stem, the roots thick
but not tuberous. The beautiful flowers are sometimes an inch and a
half across, on long, rather spreading pedicels, few or many, in a
long loose cluster, the buds slightly downy. The general effect of the
flowers is deep bright-blue, but when we examine them more closely we
find that the slightly woolly spurs are purplish, the blue sepals have
on the back protuberances, which are pinkish on the front and greenish
on the back, the two, small, upper petals are white, delicately striped
with purple, and the lower ones, which are fuzzy with tufts of white
down and two-cleft, are deep pinkish-purple; sometimes the whole flower
is much paler in color. The anthers are large and green at first,
becoming small and yellow, their threadlike filaments curling. This
grows on dry hills. _D. Párryi_, of California, is about two feet tall,
similar in coloring, but even handsomer, with a cluster nearly a foot
long, closely crowded with beautiful flowers, each an inch and a half
across. The lower leaves are slashed nearly to the center, into seven
divisions, each with three, long, narrow lobes.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Blue Larkspur--Delphinium bicolor.]
[Sidenote: =Sacramento Larkspur=
_Delphínium variegàtum_
=Purple
Spring, summer
California=]
Very handsome, over a foot tall, the upper stem downy, the lower more
or less hairy and the leaves more or less velvety. The flowers are an
inch or more long and rather few, with long pedicels, forming a loose
cluster. They are downy on the outside, all bright-purple, except the
two upper petals, which are white tipped with purple, the lower petals
edged and tipped with hairs, the spur stoutish and wrinkled. These
flowers, though described as blue, seem to me to have more true purple
than most Larkspurs. They probably vary a good deal in color. This
grows in the Coast Ranges and the Sacramento Valley. There are many
similar blue Larkspurs.
[Sidenote: =Scarlet Larkspur, Christmas-horns=
_Delphínium nudicaùle_
=Red
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
Scarlet seems an odd color for a Larkspur, but there are two red ones
in the West. This is an exceedingly airy, graceful plant and suggests
a Columbine more than a Larkspur. The stem is slender and branching,
from one to over two feet tall, with a "bloom"; the leaves thickish,
smooth, dark rich green on the upper side and pale on the under. The
flowers are far apart, from two to twelve, on long pedicels, forming a
very loose, open cluster. Each flower is about an inch long; the sepals
scarlet shading to yellow, the spur tipped with deeper red, the petals
yellow tipped with crimson, not woolly, the two upper notched and much
larger than the two lower ones, which are small and slashed into two
points, the edges of both sepals and petals more or less hairy; the
buds pale yellowish-green, tinged with pink and red. These charming
flowers have an elfin look all their own, as they swing their little
pointed red caps in the light shade of cool canyons along the mountain
streams they love. In southern California we find _D. cardinàle_, a
handsomer plant, sometimes six feet tall, its flowers larger and deeper
red and forming a larger, closer cluster.
[Illustration: Scarlet Larkspur--Delphinium nudicaule.]
The picturesque Columbine gets its melodious name from the Latin for
"dove," because the spurs suggest a circle of pretty little pigeons,
and this common name is less far-fetched than the Latin one, Aquilegia,
which comes from a fancied resemblance of the spurs to an eagle's
claws. These plants are well known and easily recognized by the
peculiar shape of the flowers. Everything about them is decorative
and beautiful, the foliage is pretty and the flowers large, brightly
colored, and conspicuous. They are all perennials, with branching stems
and compound leaves; the flowers usually nodding, with five sepals all
alike and resembling petals, and five petals, also all alike, with
conspicuous, hollow spurs. The stamens, the inner ones without anthers,
are numerous and the five pistils develop into a head of five, erect,
many-seeded pods. There is honey in the spurs, which can be reached
only by "long-tongued" insects or humming birds, which thus assist in
cross-pollination, and bees obviate the difficulty of having short
tongues by ingeniously cutting holes in the spurs. There are a good
many beautiful kinds, both East and West.
[Sidenote: =Scarlet Columbine=
_Aquilègia truncàta_
=Red and yellow
Spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
This charming plant grows from one to over three feet high, is
branching and smooth, and has pretty light-green leaves and nodding
flowers, which are over an inch and a half across. The outside of the
corolla is pale-scarlet, veined and tipped with yellow, the inside is
yellow and the spurs are erect and three quarters of an inch long.
The flower resembles the Scarlet Columbine of the East, but the plant
is taller, with fewer flowers. It is common in moist, rich woods in
Yosemite and the Coast Ranges, from the foothills well up to the alpine
zone.
[Sidenote: =White Columbine=
_Aquilègia leptocèra_
=White
Summer
Northwest and Utah=]
An exceedingly beautiful flower, a white sister of the large Blue
Columbine, which is the "State flower" of Colorado, and sometimes
sufficiently tinged with blue to show the relationship. It is a rather
slender plant, usually with several stems, from one to two feet
tall, the foliage rather bluish-green, the flowers large and usually
pure-white, and is found in the mountains.
[Illustration: Scarlet Columbine--Aquilegia truncata.]
[Illustration]
Monkshoods have almost as much charm as their cousins Columbine and
Larkspur, with a quaintness and individuality all their own. There
are a good many kinds; mountain plants, growing in temperate regions,
with rather weak stems and leaves much like those of Larkspur. The
blue and white blossoms have a "hood," which gives these plants their
very appropriate name. This is formed by the upper and larger one
of the five, petal-like sepals arching over and forming a hood, or
helmet, under which the two small petals, with spurs and claws, are
hidden; sometimes there are three or more petals below, which are
minute and resemble stamens. The real stamens are numerous and ripen
before the pistils, thus ensuring cross-pollination, and the fruit
consists of a head, of from three to five, many-seeded pods. The thick
or turnip-shaped root is used medicinally and is virulently poisonous,
so these plants are sometimes called Wolfsbane. Aconite is the ancient
Greek name and other common names are Blue-weed and Friar's-cap.
[Sidenote: =Monkshood=
_Aconìtum Columbiànum_
=Blue and white
Summer
West=]
This handsome perennial, from two to six feet tall, grows near streams,
in mountain meadows or open woods. The flowers measure from half
an inch to over an inch long and are mostly bright-blue and white,
tinged with violet, but shade from almost white to deep-blue, veined
with purple. They are paler inside and grow on slender pedicels, in
a long loose cluster, on a somewhat bending stem. The two, small,
hammer-shaped petals are nearly concealed under the hood. The leaves
are alternate, the lower ones with long leaf-stalks, and deeply cleft
into three or five, toothed or lobed, divisions. This reaches an
altitude of twelve thousand feet.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Monkshood--Aconitum Columbianum.]
[Illustration]
[Sidenote: =Wild Peony=
_Paeònia Bròwnii_
=Dark-red
Winter, spring
Wash., Oreg., Cal.=]
There are two kinds of Peony. This is a robust and very decorative
perennial, rich and unusual in coloring, the fine foliage setting off
the dark flowers to perfection. The roots are woody, the stems smooth,
from eight inches to a foot and a half tall, and the leaves are smooth,
rich green, but not shiny. The nodding flowers are an inch and a half
across, with five or six greenish-purple sepals, five or six petals,
rich deep-red, tinged and streaked with yellow and maroon; dull-yellow
stamens and green pistils. The whole flower is quite thick and leathery
in texture and rather coarse, sometimes so dark that it is almost
black. The flowers are often fragrant, but the plant has a disagreeable
smell, something like Skunk-cabbage, when crushed. The large seed-pods,
usually five, are thick, leathery and smooth, with several seeds and
are a very conspicuous feature, the stems drooping as they ripen and
the pods resting on the ground in big bunches. The whole plant is
rather succulent and the foliage and stems are more or less tinged with
red and have a "bloom," especially on the sepals. This grows in all
sorts of places, in the hot plains of the south and at the edge of the
snow, in northern, mountain canyons. In the south it blooms in January
and is sometimes called Christmas-rose. The root is used medicinally by
the Spanish-Californians and by the Indians, "to give their horses long
wind." These plants were named in honor of Paion, the physician of the
gods.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Wild Peony--Paeonia Brownii.]
[Illustration]
There are only a few kinds of Actaea, tall perennials, with large,
alternate, thrice-compound leaves and small, white flowers, in short,
terminal clusters. The sepals number about four and resemble petals;
the petals are from four to ten, or sometimes none, with claws; the
stamens are numerous, with conspicuous white filaments; the one pistil
has a broad, somewhat two-lobed, stigma, and the fruit is a large,
showy, red or white, somewhat poisonous berry, containing many, smooth,
flat seeds.
[Sidenote: =Baneberry=
_Actaèa argùta_
=White
Spring, summer
West, except Ariz.=]
This is a fine plant, from one to two feet tall, with a stoutish,
smooth, branching stem and handsome leaves, prettily cut, with pointed
teeth, thin and soft in texture, with conspicuous veins. The sepals and
petals of the small cream-white flowers are less conspicuous than the
numerous white stamens, which give a very feathery appearance to the
flower-cluster, which is one or two inches long and speckled with the
dark tips of the pistils. The sepals and petals drop off early and the
stamens lengthen, so that the cluster becomes very airy and delicate.
The general effect of the plant, which grows near shady mountain
streams, is striking and graceful. It grows also in the East and is
sometimes slightly sweet-scented, but often has an unpleasant smell.
The handsome, poisonous berries are oval or round, red or white, with a
polished surface, and contain many seeds. This reaches an altitude of
ten thousand feet. A very similar kind, _A. viridiflòra_, grows in the
mountains of Arizona.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: Baneberry--Actaea arguta.]
[Sidenote: =Globe-flower=
_Tróllius láxus_
=White
Spring
U. S.=]
This is our only kind of Trollius. It is an exceedingly beautiful
flower, particularly when found growing in the snow, or near the edge
of a field of melting ice, in high mountains and along the margins of
glaciers. The handsome, toothed leaves are palmately-lobed or divided,
the lower ones with long leaf-stalks, rich green and glossy and setting
off the flowers, which grow singly at the tips of smooth, rather
weak stems, from one to two feet tall, and measure about an inch and
a half across. The sepals, from five to seven in number, are large,
cream-white, slightly greenish outside, and are the conspicuous part
of the flower, for the petals are very small and yellow, so that they
resemble stamens. From fifteen to twenty-five of these little petals,
in a row, surround the numerous, real stamens and form a beautiful
golden center. The fruit is a head, measuring an inch across, composed
of eight to fifteen small pods, with beaks, containing many, smooth,
oblong seeds. This plant looks very much like an Anemone but it has
these small yellow petals and Anemones have none, and the center is
larger and brighter yellow and the foliage coarser.
There are three kinds of Trautvetteria, two American and one Asiatic.
[Sidenote: =False Bugbane=
_Trautvettèria grándis_
=White
Summer
West=]
A handsome plant, with a smooth, pale-green stem, from two to three
feet tall, and fine large leaves, prettily cut, smooth and rather
bright green, the lower ones sometimes eight inches across. The white
flower clusters are large, very pretty, airy and feathery, consisting
of numerous small flowers, with small petal-like sepals, usually four,
and no petals, the numerous stamens, with white filaments, being the
conspicuous part and forming a little pompon. The akenes are numerous,
inflated and four-angled, and form a head. It is a pity that this
attractive plant has such a horrid name. It grows in moist woods at Mt.
Rainier and in similar places.
[Illustration: False Bugbane--Trautvetteria grandis.]
Anemones grow in temperate and cold regions everywhere. They have no
petals, but their sepals, numbering from four to twenty, resemble
petals. The stem-leaves are in whorls, forming a kind of involucre
below the flower. There are many kinds; some have nearly smooth,
pointed akenes, some densely woolly ones, and in some the akenes have
feathery tails. The name, pronounced anemòne in Latin and in English
anémone, is appropriate to the fragile kinds, such as the eastern Wood
Anemone, for it means "flower shaken by the wind."
[Sidenote: =Canyon Anemone=
_Anemòne sphenophýlla_
=White
Spring
Arizona=]
An attractive plant, eight inches to a foot tall, with pretty flowers
and foliage. The flowers are white, tinged with pink, less than an inch
across, often downy outside, and the head of fruit is oblong, sleek,
and silky downy. This grows on dry, rocky slopes in the Grand Canyon,
above the plateau. Around Tucson the flowers are less pretty, but the
foliage handsomer.
[Sidenote: =Three-leaved Anemone=
_Anemòne deltoìdea_
=White
Summer
Wash., Oreg., Col.=]
Delicate, pale flowers, conspicuous in dark mountain woods, with
slightly downy, purplish stems, from eight to ten inches tall,
and pretty leaves, thin in texture, the involucre-leaves without
leaf-stalks, rather light-green, dull on the upper side, paler and
shiny on the under. The pretty flowers are an inch and a half to over
two inches across, with five, pure-white sepals, usually two of them
larger and longer than the others, and a light bright-yellow center.
This is abundant at Mt. Rainier. _A. quinquefòlia var. Gràyi_, of
the Coast Ranges, is similar, the flower often tinged with blue, the
involucre-leaves with leaf-stalks.
[Sidenote: =Northern Anemone=
_Anemòne parviflòra_
=White
Summer
Northwest=]
A pretty little plant, with a rather hairy, reddish stem, from four
to twelve inches tall, glossy, dark-green leaves, paler and downy on
the under side, and flowers about half an inch across, cream-white,
tinged with purple or blue on the outside; the akenes very woolly. This
reaches an altitude of ten thousand five hundred feet, growing in the
East and in Asia and is the smallest of the mountain Anemones.
[Illustration: Northern Anemone--A. parviflora.
Three-leaved Anemone--A. deltoidea.