146 



FIELD AND WOODLAND PLANTS 



on the chalky soils of the south and east of England. Except dur- 

 ing very severe winters the old leaves remain until the early spring 

 leaves are well formed, so that the bush is always green. The 

 flowers are white, with a very characteristic odour, and are arranged 

 in dense, terminal, conical panicles. The calyx forms a little cup 

 with four teeth, but soon falls ; and the corolla is funnel-shaped, 

 with four spreading lobes at the top of its tube. The stamens are 



short, attached to the co- 

 rolla ; and the superior ovary 

 ripens to a black, globular 

 berry containing two or 

 four seeds. The bushes are 

 in bloom during June and 

 July. 



Three species of Cow 

 Wheat {Melampyrum) are 

 to be found in copses and 

 woods during the summer. 

 They belong to the order 

 Scrophulariacece ; and, like 

 other allied plants of this 

 group, are partial parasites 

 (See page 349), deriving a 

 portion of their food from 

 the roots of grasses by means 

 of suckers. They have 

 the following features in 

 common : — Leaves opjiosite. 

 Calyx tubular, with four 

 narrow teeth. Corolla much 

 longer than the calyx, consisting of a very long tube and two lips, 

 the upper lip undivided, with its sides turned back, and the 

 lower with three spreading lobes. A kind of ' palate ' also closes 

 the mouth of the tube. The fruit is an ovate capsule, containing 

 from one to four seeds. The three species referred to are : — 



1. The Common Cow Wheat {M. pratense). — A smooth, erect 

 plant, from six to eighteen inches high, with spreading, opposite 

 branches ; and sessile, narrow leaves, often coarsely toothed at the 

 base. The flowers are pale yellow, over half an inch long, arranged 

 in pairs in the axils of the upper leaves, and all tm^ned towards 

 one side of the stem. The corolla is three or four times the length 



Two Twigs op Holly 



One from a lower, and one from the topmost 



branch of the same tree, the former m fruit. 



