FiGWORT TRIBE 17 



and for a time the Edinburgh College, in their infusion of that druo-, 

 sanctioned its use. It was, however, in all probability found to be unfitted 

 for that purpose, as it is now discontinued. 



3. Ehrhart's Figwort {S. ehrhdrtiy—LenYes smooth, egg-shaped, lan- 

 ceolate, acute, somewhat heart-shaped, sharply serrated, lower serratures 

 smaller ; stem and leaf-stalks winged ; cymes lax, few flowered ; sepals 

 roundish, with a broad membranous margin ; corolla greenish below, brown 

 above, scale 2-lobed ; bracts leaf -like, lanceolate, and acute ; rootstock 

 creeping, perennial. This plant occurs in a few wet places in various parts of 

 England and Scotland, having from July to September dark lurid purple 

 flowers. The stem is from two to four feet high. Under the name of 

 S. umbrosa, Hooker classes this as a sub-species of S. aqiiatica. 



4. Balm-leaved Figwort {S. scoroddnia). — Leaves triangular, heart- 

 shaped at the base, downy on both sides ; stem downy, bluntly 4-winged ; 

 cymes lax, few-flowered ; bracts linear, blunt ; sepals with a broad mem- 

 branous margin ; perennial. This species is at once distinguished from all 

 the others by its downy, wrinkled leaves, not unlike those of the garden 

 balm, and having large teeth that are again serrated. It is found only in 

 Cornwall and S. Devon, at Tralee in Ireland, and in Jersey, where it occurs 

 in moist places. Its flowers, which appear in July, are dark purple, and its 

 stem is two or three feet high. 



* * Cahjx of 5 acute segments ; corolla yellow without a scale. 



5. Yellow Figwort {S. verndlis). — Leaves downy, heart-shaped, acute, 

 twice serrated, stem winged, hairy ; cymes axillary, corymbose, with leaf-like 

 bracts ; sepals without a membranous margin ; perennial. This is the only 

 ornamental species of Figwort found in Britain, and, though an introduced 

 species, of local occurrence, is occasionally found in great abundance. In 

 some of the wilder parts of Berkshire, for instance, it is so plentiful as to form 

 a feature in the landscape. It is very unlike the other species of Figwort ; 

 its swollen yellow flowers, with a greatly contracted mouth, much resembling 

 one of the Calceolarias, but its foliage is of a remarkably bright green colovir. 

 Its stem is about two feet high, and it flowers early in spring, remaining 

 in blossom till June. Although we have but few British species of 

 ScropJmlaiia, yet about 120 are enumerated as belonging to the floras of' 

 other lands. 



8. Foxglove {Digitalis). 



Purple Foxglove {D. 'purpurea). — Leaves large, egg-shaped, lanceolate, 

 downy beneath, wrinkled, and with rounded or sharp notches at the margin, 

 lower ones tapering to a footstalk ; sepals oblong, acute, downy, 3-nerved ; 

 corolla obtuse, smooth externally ; upper lip scarcely cleft, segments of the 

 lower lip rounded ; perennial. The Digitalis received its name from Fuchs, 

 who so designated the plant from cligitabuhun, a thimble, in allusion to 

 the form of the flower ; and a similar reference is found in its familiar names 

 almost everywhere. Our name is a corruption of Folk's glove, or Fairies' 

 glove, these imaginary sprites having been known as the "good folk." 

 The French term it Gant de notre Dame, and Ganfelee; the Germans, Fingerhut; 



III — 3 



