THE SCUTELLARIA. 235 



In the Pharmacopoeia of to-day, however, it finds no 

 place. 



THE SCUTELLARIA. 



At the first glance, the Scutellaria has no resemblance to 

 the prunella. Yet the classificators have united these plants 

 in one small tribe, under the name of Scutellarinacea. These 

 are the characters which they give to them : Lower or an- 

 terior stamens longer than the superior or posterior; calyx 

 closed at maturity by the approximation of the two lips. 

 The latter character is not nearly so marked in the prunella 

 .as in the scutellaria. 



The two commonest species of scutellaria in England are 

 the Scutellaria galericulata and Scutellaria minor. They do not 

 inhabit the same localities. The former, 

 which is at the same time the commonest, 

 grows on the river-banks, and especially 

 delights in the mould accumulated in the 

 hollow trunks of old willows. It is easily 

 known by its tender blue corolla, but espe- 

 cially by its calyx, which, after the fall of 

 the corolla, develops itself in a singular 

 manner. If you compress its sides, it will 

 open so as to disclose, at the bottom of its 

 throat, its seeds, which are white, red, or brown, according to 

 their degrees of maturity. (Fig. 5 2, a.) Now look at these two 

 jaws: the upper resembles a small helmet (Lat. galericuld), or, if 

 you prefer it, a judge's cap. As for the lower, it has exactly the 



