LLKTAKIA VULGARIS. 173 



XLVII. THE TOAD FLAX. 



Description. The wayside and the borders of fields are 

 often ablaze with the Summer robes of the Toad Flax. As 

 it is wont to grow in large, dense patches, the collector sig- 

 nals its flame-colored flowers at a long distance. 



Analysis. THE LEAF REGION. For the Record, the 

 student will determine the life and kind of the root, the 

 arrangement, construction, form, and quality of surface of 

 the leaves, and the place, kind, etc., of the inflorescence. No 

 new nor striking feature is noticeable in the parts consti- 

 tuting this portion of the plant. 



THE FLO WEE REGION. The flowers always attract the 

 attention of the curious by not only their brilliant, showy 

 hues, but also their singular structure, both of which justify 

 the popular names, Snapdragon, Butter-and-Eggs, etc. 



The small green calyx indicates a pentamerous (5-parted) 

 tendency in the flowers, and the oddly-shaped corolla gives 

 a faint echo of the same by the 5 unequal lobes of its border. 

 An inflated tube ends in a mouth and lips above, and in a 

 tail (spur) behind. The lower (outer) lip is 3-cleft, the 

 upper 2-lobed. The throat is closed by the prominent 

 orange-colored palate. If lateral pressure is applied, it 

 gapes, and closes again with a snap. In technical language, 

 the corolla is bi-labiate (bis, two, labia, lips), or simply 

 labiate. For its closed throat it is personate (persona, a 

 mask), and for its tail, spurred.* 



* The spur is the nectary and the entrance to it is generally closed by hairs. The 

 nectar, therefore, can be reached only by insects having a long proboscis. Thus 

 again is the student reminded of the mutual adaptation of flowers and insects. Here, 

 as in the Evening Primrose and Honeysuckle, is a rich store of nectar ; but it is 

 deeply hidden in the long spur or tube, while the flower gives off its strongest fra- 

 grance at night. Now it is at night that the Sphynx Moths fly abroad. They have 

 long tapering wings that enable them to poise for a long time in one position. At- 



