Consolida Gray

Scientific Description

Family Ranunculaceae.

Subfamily Helleboroideae, Tribe Delphinieae. Formerly Delphinium sect. Consolida DC., Syst. Nat. 1:341 (1817).

Habit and leaf form. Herbs. ‘Normal’ plants. Leaves well developed. Plants with roots; unarmed; autotrophic. Annual. Leaves basal, or cauline. Plants with a basal concentration of leaves; to 1 m high. Self supporting. Mesophytic. Heterophyllous. Leaves alternate; with blades; petiolate; sheathing; compound; not peltate; ternate, or pinnate, or palmate. Leaves pinnately trifoliolate. Leaflets (lacinae) oblong to linear. Leaf blades neither inverted nor twisted through 90 degrees; pinnately veined, or palmately veined. Leaves without stipules.

Reproductive type, pollination. Fertile flowers hermaphrodite. Unisexual flowers absent. Plants hermaphrodite. Plants homostylous.

Inflorescence and flower features. Flowers aggregated in ‘inflorescences’. Inflorescence many-flowered. Flowers in cymes, or in racemes. Inflorescences compound. The terminal inflorescence unit cymose, or racemose. Flowers pedicellate; bracteolate, or ebracteolate; medium-sized; very irregular; zygomorphic; not resupinate. The floral asymmetry involving the perianth (upper sepal and petal spurred). Flowers heteromerous; tetracyclic. Free hypanthium absent. Perianth with distinct calyx and corolla; 7, or 6 (but only appearing so); 2 -whorled; anisomerous. Calyx present; 5; 1 -whorled; polysepalous; blue, or violet, or white, or yellow. Corolla present; 2 (connate, so giving the appearance of 1), or 1 (but only appearing so); 1 -whorled; appendiculate (the upper 2 coalescent into a single structure (nectary) with a single spur); polypetalous. Androecium present. Fertile stamens present. Androecial members indefinite in number. Androecium 100 (‘numerous’). Androecial members coherent (in 5 spirally arranged series); 5 -whorled. Stamens 100 (‘numerous’); polystemonous. Filaments strap-shaped. Anthers separate from one another; dehiscing via longitudinal slits; tetrasporangiate. Fertile gynoecium present. Gynoecium 1 carpelled. The pistil 1 celled. Carpels reduced in number relative to the perianth. Gynoecium monomerous; of one carpel; superior. Carpel stylate; apically stigmatic. Stigmatic tissue terminal. Carpel 100 ovuled (‘many’).

Fruit and seed features. The fruiting carpel dehiscent; a follicle. Dispersal unit the seed. Seeds endospermic.

Geography, cytology, number of species. Adventive. Not endemic to Australia. Australian states and territories: Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, and Australian Capital Territory. South-West Botanical Province. A genus of ca 43 species; 1 species in Western Australia; C. ajacis (L.) Schur; 0 endemic to Western Australia.

Etymology. From the Latin for "to make whole", referring to medicinal properties.