222 



FLOWERS OF WASTE PLACES, ETC. 



pointed processes at the base, and honey is thus only reached by long- 

 lipped insects, hairs bordering the groove protecting the honey and 

 keeping it in position. The closing of the swollen lower lip excludes 

 beetles from the spur. The palate of the lower lip is orange, and 

 acts as a path-finder, the insect depressing it, and pushing its head 

 within the wide part of the spur, touching the anther and stigma with 



its back. These mature 

 together, the stigma be- 

 ing between the short 

 and long stamens, and a 

 bee causes both self- and 

 cross -pollination, while 

 the plant can also polli- 

 nate itself. It is visited 

 by the Honey Bee, 

 Bombus, Megachile, Os- 

 mia, Anthidium, An- 

 drena, and several For- 

 micidae. 



The capsule opens 

 by several valves above, 

 and the seeds are liber- 

 ated so that they fall 

 out near the parent stem, 

 or are jerked out or blown 

 away by the wind. The 

 outer cells contract most, 

 the wall curves outwards, 

 and the upper end of the 

 capsule opens. 



It is largely a sand- 

 loving plant growing on sand soil or lime soil, being common on chalk, 

 limestone, and Oolite. 



Toadflax is galled by Diplosis linaritz and Gymnetron collinus, 

 G. noctis. Other beetles, Brachypterus gravidis, Meligethes obscurus, 

 and Chrysomela marginalis, are also found on it ; also the moths Striped 

 Hawk Moth (Deilephila livornica), Broom Moth (Calophasia linari(e), 

 Toadflax Pug (Hadena pisi), Beautiful Pug (Eupithecia linariata], 

 and Marbled Clover (Heliothis dipsacens], a Heteropterous insect, 

 Lopus ftavomarginatus. 



The second Latin name indicates its common occurrence. It is 



Photo. Flatters & Ga 



COMMON TOADFLAX (Linaria -vulgaris, Mill.) 



