WATER IIC.WORT 



1 I ' 



I'oiul ot iiidist i-oiulnions. the |il;iiu has a tall, erecl stcni, scjiiare in 

 section, and w inLicd, hranchecl, siiiooth, and j)urplish. The leaves are 

 stalked, opposite, runnin;^ down the stem, heart-shaped 1k-1o\v, scalloped, 

 the teeth larger upwards. The branches are opposite, with bracts 

 below the flower-stalks, which are lateral. 



The flowers are brownish-red, and in panicles or coryniljose cymes, 

 which are terminal, dense, and bear numerous flowers. The lobes of 

 the caly.x are less than the corolla, and ed<.^ed with a membrane, brown 

 and torn. The conilla is lar^e and inflated, the ujiper li[) di\ided 

 into two nearly to the base, and green below. The flower is scented 

 and attractive to wasps. The capsule is bilocular, subrotund, with 

 manv brownish seeils. 



Water h'igwort grows to a height of 4 ft. It flowers in Mav, June, 

 Jul)-. The plant is a herbaceous pereimial propagated bv di\ision, the 

 roots being white and fibrous. 



The floral mechanism rcseml)les that of .V. nodosa, and it is chiefly 

 visited by wasps. The anthers touch the abdomen of the insect. The 

 fifth stamen is useless, with no anther, antl is like a small black scale- 

 like appendage on the ui)|)er wall or lip of the corolla, and probably 

 indicates a reversion to an ancestral type, or a primitive structure. The 

 corolla is short (5 mm.) but wid.c an<l globular, and at its l)ase on the 

 superior side two large drojjs of honey may be seen secreted at the 

 yellow base of the ovary. The stigma at first projects, and is mature 

 before the anthers. luich stage lasts two days. I)oth lie on the lower 

 side ot the flower. W'asjis cling to the outside below the flower, and 

 in.sert the head between the upper and lower lobes of the corolla. In 

 young flowers they touch the stigma with the front, in okltr flowers 

 with the underside of the head, and pollen of young plants is trans- 

 ferred to stigmas of older flowers. The st\-le bends down after flower- 

 ing and j)ollinatioii. Wasps are the chief \isitors in this ciumtrv. 

 Bees also visit it in Illinois. The corolla in colour resembles the 

 wasp's markings. The capsule opens by di\iiling into twi) v.iKes, anil 

 the seed then falls around the parent plant. 



Water Belony is a .sand plant ;uid a claN'-loving [)lant, being found 

 on sand soil or clay soil or sandy loam. 



A fungus, r'eronospoTa sordida, attacks the leaves. 



Two beetles. Lojigilarsits agilis, L. ritiiltis; a wasp, J'cspa svl- 

 veslris, and jlUaiilus scroplutla; and three moths, b'rosted Orange 

 {Gortyna flava^o), /h-/>irssar/a liliirc/la. Water Beton)- [Ciiciillia 

 scrophularicr), are found upon b'igwo'-t. 



Scropliiilaria. lirunfcls, is from srro//i/a or scropliii/a, for which it 



