72 WILD FLOWERS 



year a rosette of soft, broad, lance-shaped leaves, with serrate 

 edges, and from this arise, in succeeding years, the tall, flower- 

 ing stems : the flowers, which open in summer, are arranged in 

 a handsome terminal spike : they are large, pendant, purple or 

 rarely white, and, as the English and Latin names suggest, in 

 shape like the finger of a glove : one of the few native plants 

 which is still usea medicinally, it contains a strong poisonous 

 essence. 



157. Butterwort, Pinguicula vulgaris, Butterwort family. 

 A pretty little plant of bogs and wet heaths : the leaves, which 

 are grouped in a rosette, are broadly elliptical, bright green, and 



155. Fine-leaved Heath. 



156. Foxglove. 



viscid : from the rosette rise several slender flowering-stalks, 

 each with a single flower, which superficially resembles that of 

 the violet, and which is violet in colour : the edges of the leaves 

 roll in on any insect which lights on them, and the prey is 

 digested and utilised as food : flowers in early summer. 



158. Wild Thyme, Thymus Serpyllum, Dead-nettle family. 

 The stem is more or less woody, much branched, and spreads it- 

 self out on the dry banks, where the plant grows : the leaves 

 are in pairs, small, and lance-shaped : the flowers are gathered 

 at the tips of short, erect branches ; they are small, purple, and 

 appear in summer : the whole plant is pleasantly aromatic. 



159. Ground-Ivy, Nepeta Glcchoma, Dead-nettle family. The 

 stem is branched and prostrate, with pairs of rounded, heart- 

 shaped leaves on long stalks : the leaf margins are scalloped : 

 the flowers are in clusters in the axils of the upper leaves : the 

 corolla protrudes markedly from the calyx, and is bright blue- 



