GAMOPETAL^ 149 



Cornish Moneywort or Sibthorpia {Sibthorpia 

 euYopcea). 



This somewhat local plant is one of the creeping 

 or trailing type of the Figwort family, with a graceful 

 habit. 



It is a southern species, which is found in the 

 south-west of England and Wales, the South of 

 Ireland and the Channel Islands. In South Europe 

 it is found in the Mediterranean, as well as on the 

 Western or Atlantic coasts. 



The habitat is moist shady banks and other places 

 in the areas cited. It is thus more or less a shade 

 plant or ombrophile, and is a type of those plants that 

 are of woodland origin, as opposed to the plants that 

 seek the light of the sun and are photophilons. 



The habit is creeping or trailing. The stems are 

 thread-like, slender, prostrate, with limp, jointed 

 hairs. The stems root at the nodes, giving rise to 

 adventitious roots as they are called, which are 

 common to most plants with this habit. The leaves 

 are alternate, small, shortly stalked, rounded, kidney- 

 shaped, or five- to seven-lobed, heart-shaped at the 

 base, scalloped, hairy, membranous. The lobes are 

 broad, rounded, •and notched. 



The flowers are very small, solitary, pink, borne 

 on short stalks in the axils. The calyx is four- to 

 five-lobed, the corolla is five-lobed, the two upper, 

 smaller lobes yellow, the three lower broader. 

 There are four stamens. The stigma is pin-headed. 



