598 



SCROPHULARIA CEAE 



number of sp. in in. 2 and 3 (below), e.g. Euphrasia, Bartsia, Pedi- 

 cularis, grow in swampy grass-land and are parasitic by their roots 

 upon the roots of the grasses. Suckers are formed at the points of 

 contact, in spring; they absorb food till the summer, and later 

 absorb organic compounds from the dead parts of the host, and 

 function for storage of reserve-materials. The plants possess green 1. 

 of their own, and so are able to assimilate. 



Infl. racemose or cymose, in the former case usu. a spike or 

 raceme, axillary or term, (every variety in sp. of Veronica). Sol. 



Floral diagrams of A, Vcrbascuin nigrum, B, Linaria vulgaris, C, Veronica 

 Chaniaedrys ; after Eichler. 



axillary fls. in many, e.g. Linaria. Cymose infls. usu. dichasia, 

 often united into complex corymbs, &c. Bracts and bracteoles usu. 

 present. In Castilleja the upper 1. and bracts brightly coloured. 



Fl. 5 > ! > sometimes nearly reg. (Verbascum, &c.) ; considerable 

 variety in structure, as illustrated by the floral diagrams given. The 

 bulk of the fam. show the Linaria type. K (5), of various aestiva- 

 tions ; C(5), median -|- , often 2-lipped ; A4 (sometimes 2), didynamous, 

 epipet., the post. sta. sometimes repres. by a std. (e.g. in Scrophularia 

 and Pentstemon). Verbascum and its allies have an actinom. C and 

 5 sta. ; Veronica (q-v.) shows 4 sepals (the post, one of the typical 5 

 absent), 4 petals (the post, pair of the .s united), and 2 sta., the C. 

 rotate. Other variations occur in the Selagineae, &c. Below the 

 ovary is a honey-secreting disc. G (2), medianly placed (not obliquely 

 as in Solanaceae), 2-loc., with axileplac.; ov. usu. oo , less commonly 

 few (e.g. Veronica, &c.), anatr. ; style simple or bilobed. Fr. sur- 

 rounded below by the persistent K, usu. a capsule (dehisc. in various 

 ways) or a berry. Seeds usu. numerous, small, with endosp. Embryo 

 straight or slightly curved. 



Most have fls. adapted to insect-visits. Miiller divides them 

 into' 4 types: (i) the Verbascum or Veronica type (see gen.) with 

 open fl. and short tube (bees and flies), (2) the Scrophularia type 

 (wasps), (3) the Digitalis and Linaria type with long wide tubes and 

 the essential organs so placed as to touch the back of the insect (bees), 

 and (4) the Euphrasia type or 'loose- pollen' fl., where the pollen is 

 loose and powdery, and the anthers (protected by upper lip) have 

 spines, &c., so that they may be shaken upon the entrance of the 

 insect, which thus receives a shower of pollen. The fls. are seldom 

 markedly dichogamous, but the stigma usu. projects beyond the sta. 



