RED BAKTSIA.—Bartsia Odontites. 



Class DiDTNAMiA. Order Angiospermta. Nat. Ord. Scrophu- 

 LARiNE^. — Fig-wort Tribe. 



Those who are not very observant of plants, 

 would be likely to leave this unnoticed, as the 

 dull purplish colour of its upper leaves and 

 flower-cups renders it unattractive. Yet it is, 

 upon examination, a pretty flower, though 

 scentless. That Linnaeus admired some species 

 of Bartsia seems probable, from the fact that 

 he named the genus after his beloved friend 

 John Bartsch, of whom he gives an interesting 

 though somewhat sad account in his Flora 

 Biiecica. The reddish-purple blooms of this 

 plant appear in July and August. It is very 

 common in corn-fields, and on field borders 

 and other waste places, and is usually about 

 eight or ten inches in height. 



We have two other native species, which 

 are readily distinguished from the Red kind by 

 their differently coloured blossoms. The Yel- 

 low Viscid Bartsia [Bartsia viscosa) is by no 

 means a common plant, though it grows very 

 plentifully in pastures, in many parts of the 

 West of England, and more rarely in the 

 South-west of Scotland and the South of 

 Ireland. It is much more showv than our 



