FIGWORT FAMILY. Scrophulariacese. 



FIGWORT FAMILY. Scrophulariacece. 



Commonly herbs with opposite or alternate leaves, and 

 perfect, irregular flowers with two sets of stamens, 2-5, 

 longer and shorter ones ; corolla two-lipped or nearly 

 regular. Fruit a two- celled and generally many-seeded 

 capsule. A large family of bitter- juiced plants ; some 

 are narcotic-poisonous. Cross-fertilized by moths, but- 

 terflies, and bees. 



A very common, picturesque, velvety- 



Great Mullein , 



Verbascum leaved weed of rocky pastures and road- 



Thapsus sides, naturalized from Europe. The basal 



Yellow leaves at first in the form of a rosette, 



large, ovate, thick- velvety, and white- 

 green. The stem stout and erect, with a 

 few smaller, acute-pointed leaves ; the terminal flower- 

 spike cylindrical, woolly, and dotted with scattered light 

 yellow flowers ; corolla five-lobed, and anthers golden 

 yellow. Rarely the flowers are white. 2-6 feet high. 

 In barren fields and waste places, from Me. , south, and 

 west to Minn, and Kan. 



A smaller species with smooth stem and 

 Moth Mullein ,. ,. , 



Verbascum thm ' h g hfc g reen g^ssy leaves, mostly ob- 

 Blattaria long with deeply cut, notched, and toothed 



Yellow, white margins ; the upper leaves lance-shaped 

 and clasping at the base. The flowers, 

 similar in shape to those of the preceding 

 species, are light yellow or white, tinged on the back 

 with lavender, and set on slender stalks ; the five sta- 

 mens are fringed with ruddy hairs, and the anthers are 

 deep orange. The slender flower-spike is 1-2 feet long, 

 and a trifle woolly. 2-5 feet high. In waysides, waste 

 places, and pastures. Me. , south, west to Minn, and Kan. 



An extremely slender and smooth an- 

 Blue Toad-flax / 



Linaria nual or biennial species with few small, 



Canadensis thickish, linear, light green leaves, tooth- 

 Lavender less, stemless, smooth, and shining. The 



small pale violet or lavender flowers about 

 September , . 



-^ inch long, two-lipped, and spurred ; the 



lower lip large and three-lobed, with a white, convex, 



two-ridged palate ; the upper lip with two acute divi* 



416 



