112 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



{Antirrhinum Orontium) is met with occasionally 

 in waste stony places. 



There are several British species of Toadflax 

 (Linaria), with blue, white or yellow flowers, 

 resembling the true Snapdragons, but with the 

 calyx projecting from beneath the corolla in a long 

 spur. Of these the commonest is the Yellow 

 Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) found in fields and 

 hedgerows. The corolla is yellow (or more rarely 

 white), and the palate is orange, which has given 

 rise to the name of " Butter-and-eggs," by which 

 the flower is often known in the country. The 

 leaves, both in the Snapdragons and Toadflaxes, 

 are rather small, long and narrow, and entire. 



King Charles's Sceptre — Pedicularis Sceptrum- 

 Carolinum 



(Plate LXIX) 



We have a few species of Lousewort (Pedicularis) 

 in Britain, though the species here figured is 

 not British, but is found on swampy moors in 

 Northern and Eastern Germany. The root consists 



of long thick fibres, and is perennial. The stem 

 is erect, round, reddish, and for the most part 

 smooth. The root-leaves are numerous, and form 

 a rosette. They are erect and pinnate, with 

 reddish veins. The leaflets are oval, notched, and 

 slightly curved over at the edges. Below the 

 middle of the stem are from two to four smaller 

 sessile leaves. Oval, hollow, obtuse, and almost 

 entire bracts, which are generally smaller than the 

 calyx, stand singly under each flower. The flowers 

 are large and very handsome, and are yellow, with 

 the extremity blood-red. They are generally 

 arranged three together in whorls, and form a 

 long loose spike. The corolla is smooth, straight, 

 tubular, and closed at the extremity. The calyx 

 is oval, rather long, smooth, and its lobes are very 

 strongly dentated. The capsule has two cells. 



Most of the British species of Scrophularia and 

 of the allied genus Melampyrum (Cow-Wheat) have 

 purplish flowers ; but some are yellow. A commoner 

 and better-known plant, however, is the Yellow 

 Rattle (Rhinanthus Crista-Galli), which grows 

 plentifully among grass, and has conspicuous yellow 



