SELF-HEAL. S3 



other flowers. Immediately beneath each spike of blossoms 

 we always find one of the pairs of leaves, sometimes stand- 

 ing out, like the other leaf-pairs, at about a right angle 

 with the stem, but perhaps more frequently thrown down- 

 wards, as in the illustration . The' flowers are arranged in 

 dense whorls or rings, and a pair of broad floral leaves is 

 associated with each ring, and adds to the compact, tense look 

 of the whole. There are ordinarily six flowers in each 

 whorl, but they by no means come out simultaneously in 

 any one ring, so that a somewhat ragged-looking head of 

 flowers is produced. The calyx is tubular, and composed of 

 two conspicuous parts, the uppermost of which is flat, and 

 terminated by three small teeth, and the lower one rounder, 

 and divided into long and pointed segments. The corolla 

 is ordinarily of a rich violet colour, though we sometimes 

 find it white or of a reddish-purple tint. When the plant 

 is gathered the blossoms are found to shatter very easily. 

 The tubular part of the corolla projects a little beyond the 

 protecting tube of the calyx, and then opens out into two 

 distinct portions. The upper lip is hollow and dome-like, 

 and very simple in form ; the lower lip is cut into three 

 conspicuous segments, the central one having its margin 

 finely toothed. The stamens, four in number, are very 

 curious in form, and any one finding a flowering plant 

 should go in for a little amateur dissection of the parts. 

 The filaments are long and tapering, pale violet in colour, 

 and two of them longer than the other two ; each is very 

 curiously forked at its summit, and on one of each of these 

 pairs of forks we find the anther, the other fork having no 

 very visible raison d'etre. The style is thread-like, much 

 shorter than the stamens, and terminating in a bifid 

 or twice-cleft stigma. The calyx, after the flowering-season 



