176 THE GROUND IVY. 



Here also belong the Mulleins, Foxgloves, Gerardias, Pent- 

 stemons, and all other plants which possess the following 

 seven characteristics. 



Flowers irregular, without fragrance. 



Calyx free, persistent. 



Corolla gamopetalous, imbricated in aestivation. 



Stamens 2 or 4, rarely 5, inserted on the corolla. 



Ovary free, double, with 1 style and a 2-lobed stigma. 



Fruit a 2-celled capsule with axial placentae. 



Seeds many, anatropous, albuminous. 



The Figworts include 180 genera, 1800 species, abounding in all 

 climes and countries. Among them are some medicinal and poisonous 

 plants, as Digitalis (Foxglove),* and many cultivated for their hand- 

 some flowers, as Calceolaria (Ladies-slipper), Antirrhinum (Snapdragon), 

 Pentstemons, Maurandias, Russellias. 



The Officinal Speedwell ( V. officindlis) was formerly used as tea in 

 Europe, but there is no Figwort considered truly nutritious or useful 

 for food.f 



Scientific Terms. Bilabiate. Didynamous. Labiate. Penta- 

 merous. Personate. Spurred. Wing-margined. 



XLVIII. THE GROUND IVY. 



Description. This interesting plant, like the Dande- 

 lion and other naturalized foreigners,]; selects its home in 



* This term is generally supposed to be a corruption of Folk's or Fairies' Glove, 

 these imaginary beings having formerly been known as the " good folk." There are 

 many superstitions attached to the plant and it is still thought by the ignorant to be 

 a favorite lurking place of the fairies. In South Wales the children are wont to hold 

 one end of the Digitalis bell and strike the other with the hand to hear the fairy thun- 

 der with which the indignant little sprite is supposed to make its escape from its 

 injured retreat. According to some legends, the fairies lend the blossoms to the fox 

 on his marauding expeditions, to soften his already velvet tread. 



t During the famous siege of Rochelle by Richelieu, in 1628, the garrison for a 

 time lived entirely on the root of a kind of Figwort, probably the Scrophularia aquat- 

 ica. From this circumstance the plant is known in France as Herbe de Siege. 



\ Let us carefully distinguish between our native and naturalized plants. The 

 former are characteristic of the country, and have flourished in its wilds, independent 

 of man, for unknown ages. Such are Dodecatheon, the American Elm, &c. Nat- 

 uralized plants once introduced from other lands, whether by accident or design, find 



