Latin consolido—to heal or make firm; the medieval name for this wound-healing herb.
Annual herbs. Leaves alternate, finely dissected, thread-like. Flowers with 5 petal-like sepals, the uppermost having projecting spurs. Petals united and with 3-5 lobes, a spur projecting back into the sepal spur. Stamens numerous; summer. Carpel 1. Fruit a single follicle.
Grown only as annuals and forming small bedding plants like miniature delphiniums but with the leaves very finely dissected. Generally referred to as larkspurs, Consolida is usually available as cultivars of the species C. regalis, C. orientalis and C. ajacis (C. ambigua).
Many selections are probably hybrids between C. ajacis and C. orientalis. Most bedding plants are double and do not clearly display the characteristics of the genus. The cultivar 'Giant Imperial' is at present widely available.
Similar to Delphinium but with leaves that are finely dissected; upper petals 2, united, the lower 2 petals lacking (doubling frequently obscures the floral structure); carpel and follicle 1.
About 50 species distributed from the Mediterranean to C Asia.
Munz (1967a, 1967b).
Source: (1997). Ranunculaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
