258 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
a little, the upper lip is thought to resemble a nose— 
of the Hebrew type. The scientific botanists, with a 
sense of humour for which the public fails to give 
them credit, have seized upon this likeness and called 
it Nose-flower in Greek—rhin, nose, and anthos, 
flower. The Swedish peasants declare that when its 
seeds rattle in the bladdery calyx they know their 
hay is ripe for harvesting. 
Of the genus Bartsia we have three species, but 
the Alpine Bartsia (B. alpina) is a rare northern 
species, and the Yellow Bartsia (3. viscosa), with its 
covering of sticky glandular hairs, is found only in 
the South of England and Western Ireland. Red 
Bartsia (B. odontites) is of far more general occurrence, 
and may be found in fields and on the wastes by 
roadsides. The deep-pink flowers are borne in pairs 
on the spike, and the lower hp serves for alghting 
purposes. At the base of this lower lip there are 
several purple streaks serving as guides to the honey, 
which is secreted at the bottom of the corolla-tube. 
The honey is not quite so accessible as it appears, for 
though it is but a short distance from the base of the 
long upper lip to the honey, yet insects standing on 
the lower lip are prohibited from putting their 
tongues in at that point, the way being almost 
blocked by the broad filaments, which are here thickly 
studded with sharp teeth; but higher up, just under 
the anthers, the filaments are quite smooth and wider 
apart. The anthers come together, and are connected 
by the long hairs at the back of each, whilst they 
open in front to discharge the pollen. Bees are the 
-fertilising agents, and when one pushes his tongue in 
here, it touches some of the hairs by which all the 
