WOODS AND COPSES 



67 



The tube is pale greenish-purple. The bracts are 

 linear, acute, lealy below, the slender erect flmver- 

 stalks g-landular below. The capsule is broadly 

 egg-shaped, with a narrow point. The plant is 

 1-3 l"t. in height, flowering in July and .Vugust, 

 and is a herbaceous perennial. 



Downy Figwrort (S,rof>/iii!ariii Scorotlonia, L.). 

 — The habitat ot this plant is shaded places, moist 

 situations, and way-sides in the S. and E. of Eng- 

 land. The habit is as in the last. The stem is 

 downy or hairy, glandular, simple, blunt, 4-angled. 

 The rootstock is creeping. The leaves are downy 

 both sides, scalloped, toothed, wrinkled, egg- 

 shaped, triangular, the leaf- stalk not winged. 

 The flowers are dull purple in long loose panicles, 

 corymbose, on slender flower-stalks. The corolla 

 h.is the upper lip divided. The staininode is 

 round, entire. The membranous margin of the 

 downy sepals is broad. The bracts are leaflike. 

 The capsule is egg-shaped or nearly round, with 

 a long, narrow point. The plant is 2-4 it. in 

 height, flowering from June till August. It is a 

 herbaceous pereiniial. 



Sylvan Speed\well {I'eronica montnna, L.). — 

 The habitat of this plant is moist woods and 

 thickets. The habit is prostrate, then ascending. 

 The stem is branched, spreading, downy all round. 

 The leaves are stalked, broadly egg-shaped, in- 

 versely heart-shaped, toothed. The flowers are 

 pale blue, few, in loose, short racemes, alternate, 

 with broad, lance-shaped (acute) sepals. The 

 capsule is large, rounded, flat, longer than the 

 calyx, smooth, the margin rather scalloped, fringed 

 with hairs. The plant is 6-20 in. in length, flower- 

 ing from May till July, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Alpine Cow-wheat {Mclanipyrum sylvatinim, 

 L. ). — The habitat of this plant is alpine or sub- 

 alpine woods. The habit is erect and branched 

 above. The leaves are smooth or finely downy, 

 linear, lance-shaped, entire. The flowers are very 

 small, deep yellow, nearly erect, axillary, arranged 

 on one side of the stalk, or in distant pairs. The 

 corolla is twice as long as the calyx, the lip not 

 closed, the lower bent down, and the tube curved, 

 the flowers unsymmetrical. The bracts are linear, 

 lance-shaped, entire. The calyx-teeth are spread- 

 ing. The capsule is not bent down. The plant 

 is 6-24 in. in height. It flowers in July and August, 

 and is a herbaceous annual. 



Crested Cow-wheat (Melampyrum cris/afum, 

 L.). — The habitat of this species is woods, copses, 

 thickets, and fields in the E. counties. The habit 

 is as in the last. The stem is erect, rigid, blunt, 

 4-angled, downy above. The leaves are narrow, 

 linear, lance-shaped, acute, spreading, entire, with 

 netted veins below. The flowers are yellow, with 

 purple tips, in dense, oblong, 4sided, overlapping 

 spikes. The bracts are overlapping, finely fringed, 

 pink, rose or purple, heart-shaped, the margins 

 enclosing the calyx, folded, with a long point, 

 bent back. The tube is bent, longer than the 

 calyx, with closed lips. The sepals are acute and 

 unequal, short, the upper longer, awl -shaped. 

 The capsule is longer than the calyx. The plant 



is 8-24 in. in height, anil flowers from July to 

 October, bcinga herbaceoushemi-parasitic annual. 



Order Orobanchace.^ 



Toothwort (Lallir<ea Sqiianiarla, \..). — The 

 habit.it of this plant is woods and thickets, or 

 d.'imp sh.ady pl.aces, where it is parasitical on the 

 roots of hazel, &c. The habit is erect, that of a 

 |)arasite. Both the branched rhizome and scapes 

 bear scales, those on the rhizome thick and fleshy, 

 and folded back on themselves. The leaves have 

 undulating chambers, with glands of two kinds, 

 the one club-shaped, 2-celled, stalked, in the other 

 the cells are like a flat dome. The cells bear fila- 

 ments which entangle and capture animals that 

 enter the chambers, digesting their juices. The 

 rootlets are attached to the roots of the host by 

 tubercles. The plant is flesh-coloured or bluish, 

 with purple streaks. The scapes are stout. The 

 flowers are dull purple or white in bent-down 

 racemes, one-sided, the flowers nearly stalkless. 

 The bracts are entire, egg-shaped, lance-shaped. 

 The calyx is 2-lipped. The lower lip ol the arched 

 corolla is divided into three, the upper entire or 

 divided nearly to the base into two lobes. The 

 anthers are united and covered with hairs. The 

 style projects, and is bent down or straight, and 

 the stigma is purple. The capsule is egg-shaped. 

 The plant is 4-10 in. high, flowering in April and 

 May, and is perennial. 



Order Labiat/E 



Bastard Balm {J\fe/zffts Melissophyllum, L.). — 

 The habitat of this plant is woods and copses in 

 the south. The habit is erect, more or less pyra- 

 midal. The stem is simple or branched. The 

 leaves are oblong, egg-shaped, heart-shaped, 

 toothed, scalloped, with the scent of Woodruff, 

 stalked or stalkless, the nerves hairy below. The 

 bracts are leaflike. The flowers are creamy- 

 white, with white margin and pink or purple 

 spots or variegated. The corolla-tube is nearly 

 straight, with an oblique mouth and spreading 

 lips. The upper lip of the calyx with 2-3 teeth 

 is open, with short, broad sepals. The nutlets 

 are smooth or netted. The plant is 1-2 ft. high, 

 flowering in May and June, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



Alpine Woundwort (Slachys alpina, L.).— This 

 plant is found in woods at medium altitudes. 

 The habit is erect. The stem is hairy, glandular 

 above. The leaves are oblong, egg-shaped, 

 heart-sh.i.ped below, toothed, the lower ones are 

 scalloped, long-stalked. The leaves on the flower- 

 ing stems are large, stalkless, mostly toothed. 

 The bracts are linear, lance-shaped, as long as 

 the calyx. The flowers are purple, with white 

 spots, in distant axillary whorls. The corolla 

 much exceeds the calyx, which is hairy extern- 

 ally, the teeth of the latter being broadly and 

 narrowly pointed. The plant is 1-3 ft. in height, 

 flowering in June and July, and is a herbaceous 

 perennial. 



