WOODS AND THICKETS IN SPRING 



55 



a peculiar, fleshy, pinkish plant, to be found among decaying vege- 

 table matter or at the roots of the Hazel, Elm and a few other 

 trees. It is partly parasitic, deriving its nourishment from the roots 

 of the trees to which it is attached, or sometimes obtaining its food 

 partly or entirely from decaying leaves and stems. Its upright 

 stem, which reaches a height of from five to ten inches, is covered 

 with tooth-hke, hollow scales, and bears a one-sided raceme of 

 purple-brown flowers. This peculiar plant is not only a parasite on 

 trees, but is also a carnivorous 

 species, provided with the 

 means of capturing and digest- 

 ing very small animals, and a 

 more detailed account of its 

 form and habits will be found 

 in our short chapter de- 

 voted especially to carni- 

 vorous plants. 



The Bugle {Ajuga reptans, 

 of the order Labiatce), is a very 

 abundant flower in moist woods 

 and j)astures, blooming in May 

 and June. It has a short 

 root-stock, generally with 

 creeping runners ; and erect, 

 smooth flowering stems from 

 three to twelve inches high. 

 At the base is a tuft of 

 obovate, radical leaves, from 

 one to two inches long, gradu- 

 ally narrowed into the stalk, 

 with wavy margins ; and on the stem are shorter leaves, with very 

 short stalks, the upper ones often deeply tinged with blue or purple. 

 The flowers are blue (occasionally pink or wliite), and are arranged ih 

 whorls of from six to ten in the axils of the upj)er leaves, the whole 

 forming a leafy spike. They have a five-cleft calyx ; a corolla with a 

 short, erect, notched, upper Hp ; and a longer lower lip with three 

 spreading lobes, the middle one of which is broader and notched; 

 The stamens, of which there are two pairs, project beyond the 

 upper Hp of the corolla ; and the fom- nutlets of the fruit are rough 

 and united. 



The Yellow Dead Nettle, Weasel-snout, or Archangel (Galeobdolon 



The Lesser Periwinkle. 



