[Illustration: WHITE LARKSPUR CAROLINA LARKSPUR]
White Larkspur (_Delphinium albescens_) is the common larkspur of prairies and plains of Texas and ranges to Southern Canada. In Texas it blooms most abundantly in May. The white flowers resemble rabbit faces and are tinged with green and purple. It is the bane of ranchmen, for it is poisonous to cattle.
Carolina Larkspur (_Delphinium carolinianum_) commonly has lovely deep blue flowers, though white forms may be found. It is very abundant in East Texas in March and April, growing 1½-2 ft. high. The plants have few leaves, and these are 3-5 parted, each part being divided into narrow linear lobes. It is very much like the Texas larkspur (_Delphinium vimineum_), which has blue or white flowers, grows taller, and is more leafy than the Carolina larkspur.
“Delphinium” is derived from the Latin meaning “dolphin,” so-called because of the resemblance of the spurred flowers to a dolphin. The common garden larkspur is native to Southern Europe. Some of the larkspurs furnish drugs.
Large Buttercup (_Ranunculus macranthus_) has handsome, golden-yellow flowers about 2 in. broad. There are 10-15 broad yellow petals which are longer than the sepals and have a nectar pit at their base. The leaves are mainly basal, long-stalked, and divided into wedge-shaped lobes. It ranges from Central to Southwestern Texas and is most abundant in April. It is a plant which does well in cultivation but requires plenty of water; it blooms in the shade better than most garden plants.
Many of the buttercups grow in marshy places, a fact which is responsible for the old Latin name meaning “little frog.” Many different kinds are found along roadside ditches and in marshy places in East Texas. Some members of the crowfoot family, including the wood-anemone and the marsh marigold, common in the Northern States but not native to Texas, yield poisonous honey.
Drummond’s Virgin’s Bower. Old Man’s Beard (_Clematis drummondii_) is a vine growing in great profusion, covering shrubs and fences from Central Texas to Arizona and Mexico. The 4 petal-like sepals are pale greenish-yellow, almost white, narrow and thin with margins somewhat crinkled, about ½ in. long. The flowers bloom in the summer, being inconspicuous among the branching leafy stems. The stamen-bearing flowers are on a separate vine from the seed-producing flowers. The seeds mature in a few weeks, and soon the vine is covered with iridescent masses of silky, feathery plumes, 2-4 in. long, which grow out from the seed cover. These plumes are elongated, persistent styles and are responsible for many common names given to the vine, including grandfather’s beard, gray beard, goat’s beard, and love-in-the-mist.