272 COMMON WEEDS 



inches high, often branched, and bear small sessile, 

 ovate, or lanceolate leaves with crenate or coarsely 

 serrate margins. 



The flowers are tubular, two-lipped, and white or 

 lilac with purple veins, the lower lip being yellow ; 

 they grow singly in the axils of the leaves, and are open 

 from June to August. 



Red Bartsia (Bartsia Odontites Huds., or Euphrasia 

 Odontites L.) is a frequent weed in fields and waste 

 places, and by roadsides. It has an erect branched wiry 

 stem, and in habit and general appearance resembles 

 a large red Eyebright. The leaves are opposite and 

 sessile, usually narrowly lanceolate and serrate, though 

 they vary very much in shape. The flowers are two- 

 lipped, pink and hairy, and appear in July and August, 

 arranged on one side of the flowering stem. 



Yellow or Viscid Bartsia (B. viscosa L.) is an annual 

 plant, with stems about a foot high, ovate coarsely 

 serrate leaves, and yellow two-lipped flowers, which 

 are open in June to October. The whole plant has 

 sticky hairs upon it. It sometimes grows abundantly 

 in grass land. 



Lousewort or Red Rattle (Pedicularis sylvatica L.) 

 occurs on heaths and dampish meadows throughout 

 the country. It is a perennial, with long smooth 

 branches which spread over the ground and grow 

 erect at the ends. The leaves are oblong-pinnatifid, 

 the flowers two-lipped, about an inch long, and rose- 

 pink, appearing in May. 



Another species (P.palusiris L.), which is annual, grows 

 in marshes and bogs. It has a stout erect stem, with 

 few or no branches, and large crimson flowers (Fig. 76). 



Cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense L.) is another 

 semi-parasitic plant which grows chiefly on the sides 

 of woods and in thickets, though it is sometimes seen 



