144 



SCROPHULARIA. 



[CHAP. 



nigrum, however, according to Gsertner, cannot be 

 fertilised by its own pollen. 



The genus Scrophularia, from which the family 

 takes its name, is remarkable in many respects. 

 From the general arrangement of the blossom in 

 flowers of the Labiate form, the pistil could hardly 

 occupy any other position than the central median 



FIG. 99. ScropJmlaria nodosa. 



* 



line, and a fifth stamen would accordingly be in the 

 way. It has therefore disappeared, though Miiller 

 mentions that he once found one in Lamium album. 

 In Scr. nodosa (Fig. 99), however, the four normal 

 stamens and the pistil occupy the lower side of the 

 flower, and the presence of a fifth stamen, even if 

 useless, is under these circumstances not injurious. 

 A rudimentary fifth stamen is, in fact, habitually 



