FIG WORT TRIBE 15 



6. LOUSEWORT (FccUrtlldris). 



1. Marsh Lousewort (F. pah'tsfris). — Stem solitary, erect, branched; 

 leaves pinnatifid, segments oblong, blunt, and lobed ; calyx egg-shaped, 

 downy, 2-lobed, lobes deeply cut ; perennial. From June to September this 

 is a very pretty marsh-flower, sometimes giving to a portion of boggy land a 

 rich red colour by its numerous large crimson blossoms, often with a spotted 

 calyx. Its branches have frequently a purple tinge, and the deeply-cut 

 leaves are extremely pretty. The plant is from twelve to eighteen inches in 

 height. Both this and the following species are considered to produce lice in 

 sheep feeding on the pasture where they abound ; and hence their familiar 

 name, though there is little doubt that the vermin attacking these animals 

 are as much to be attributed to want of tone produced by the unhealthy 

 nature of marshy grounds as to the plant itself. Lousewort, however, like 

 the sun-dews, spear-worts, and several other of our bog-plants, has some 

 degree of acridity. Mr. Purton says that the healthiest flocks when fed on 

 the next species (P. sylvdtica) soon become unhealthy ; and he adds, that 

 farmers should be careful to eradicate it. Both sheep and goats eat the 

 plant, and both our British species were formerly considered good vulneraries. 

 The leaves of a species known as P. landta are said by Ainslie to be used 

 in the Kurile Isles as a substitute for tea. That remarkable and magnificent 

 flower, peculiar to Lapland and Sweden, named by Rudbeck F. sceptrum- 

 carolinum, is the great ornament of the genus ; but our native kinds are both 

 pretty flowers, and we have several handsome garden species. Most of the 

 genus grow at great elevation above the level of the sea. Throughout 

 Europe the plants are generally known by names synonymous with their 

 scientific and English names. Thus the French call them FMiculaire ; the 

 Germans, Lcmsekraut ; the Dutch, Luiskruid ; the Italians, Fidocchiera ; the 

 Spanish, Gallarito ; the Danes, Luusuri. In many of our country places they 

 are called Red Rattle. 



2. Pasture Lousewort (P. sylvdtica). — Stem branched at the base, 

 erect ; branches long, spreading, prostrate ; leaves pinnatifid ; segments 

 lobed ; calyx oblong, smooth, irregularly 5-lobed, inflated, and marked with 

 green veins crossing each other ; perennial. This is quite a common plant 

 of moist heaths and pastures, especially abounding in hilly places. It is of 

 much lower growth than the last species, and its flowers are paler, being 

 either rose-coloured or white. The smooth calyx has five unequal leaf-like 

 lobes, its primary stem is very short, and the branches lie over the ground 

 thickly clad with their prettily-cut leaves. The flowers, which are large, 

 expand from June to August. Both species are root-parasites. 



7. FiGWORT {Scraphuldria). 



* Calyx with fine rounded lobes, corolla purplish, upper lip with a scale on its 

 inner side — the aborted fifth stamen. 



1. Knotted Figwort (^S*. noddsa). — Leaves egg-shaped, somewhat heart- 

 shaped, smooth, doubly and acutely serrated, the loAver serratures largest ; 

 stem with four -acute angles ; cymes lax ; bracts small, lanceolate, and acute ; 



