Delphinium

For the town of ancient Boeotia, see Delphinium (Boeotia). For the town of ancient Chios, see Delphinium (Chios). For the Royal Navy ships, see HMS Delphinium.

Delphinium
Delphinium elatum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Subfamily: Ranunculoideae
Tribe: Delphinieae
Genus: Delphinium
L.

Delphinium is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. The genus was erected by Carl Linnaeus.[1]

All members of the genus Delphinium are toxic to humans and livestock.[2] The common name larkspur is shared between perennial Delphinium species and annual species of the genus Consolida.[3] Molecular data show that Consolida, as well as another segregate genus, Aconitella, are both embedded in Delphinium.[4]

The genus name Delphinium derives from the Ancient Greek word δελφίνιον (delphínion) which means "dolphin", a name used in De Materia Medica for some kind of larkspur.[5][6][7] Pedanius Dioscorides said the plant got its name because of its dolphin-shaped flowers.[8]

  1. ^ Warnock, Michael J. (1997). "Delphinium". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 3. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  2. ^ Wiese, Karen (2013). Sierra Nevada Wildflowers: A Field Guide To Common Wildflowers And Shrubs Of The Sierra Nevada, Including Yosemite, Sequoia, And Kings Canyon National Parks (2nd ed.). Falcon Guides. p. 52. ISBN 978-0762780341.
  3. ^ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
  4. ^ Jabbour, F.; Renner, S. S. (2011). "Consolida and Aconitella are an annual clade of Delphinium (Ranunculaceae) that diversified in the Mediterranean basin and the Irano-Turanian region". Taxon. 60 (4): 1029–1040. doi:10.1002/tax.604007.
  5. ^ Gledhill, D. (2008). The Names of Plants (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511480232. OCLC 348190404.
  6. ^ Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 978-2010035289. OCLC 461974285.
  7. ^ Bailly, Anatole. "delphinium". 'Abrégé du dictionnaire grec-français. Retrieved November 6, 2017 – via Tabularium.
  8. ^ Dioscorides, P. (1829). Sprengel, K.P.J. (ed.). Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazarbei De materia medica libri quinque. Vol. Tomus Primus. Leipzig: Knobloch. pp. 420–421. Flos albae violae similis, purpurascens, delphinorum effigie, unde et nomen adepta est planta.