TOADFLAX 



easily suggest a young toad emerging from the tad- 

 pole stage, tail and all; the resemblance of the stems 

 to flax accounts for the rest of the name. Butter- 

 and-Eggs, of course, is a reference to the orange and 

 yellow of the blossom. 



A little plantation of Butter-and-Eggs is easily 

 recognized, one sees it as a patch of gray-green by 

 the roadside or just over the fence, which 

 resolves itself into a body of erect stems 

 thickly beset with linear leaves. At the 

 summit of each flowering stem is a torch 

 of orange and yellow. The flower flame 

 creeps up the stem slowly, so that the 

 blooming period is extended. The blos- 

 soms are an odd two-lipped form, and 

 each has a pointed spur. They are bright 

 yellow, except the little pouting lips 

 which are orange. By pressing gently at 

 the corners of the mouth we can force 

 the lips apart, and then we see that the 

 stamens and pistil are well within and 

 that the nectar is down the throat. The 

 lips close firmly, and a small creeping in- 

 sect is quite unable to force an entrance; 

 but when the bee comes her weight 

 causes the lower lip to drop, she goes in 

 after the nectar and comes out covered with pollen, 

 which she carries to another flower, and the mouth 

 closes again. 



The blossoms appear in two forms, one the com- 

 mon two-lipped variety, and the other, not so common, 

 in which the corolla has five spurs, is regularly five- 

 lobed, and is then said to be in the peloria state. By 



203 



Butter-and-Eggs. 

 Lindria vulgaris 



