112 SUMMER FLOWERS. 



rape."* These are very singular plants, forming dwarfish herbs 

 of a brownish or purplish colour, never green, the place of the 

 leaves being occupied by dull-coloured scales. One of their 

 leading peculiarities is that they grow parasitically on the 

 roots of other plants ; that is to say, instead of forming roots 

 as most other plants do, to obtain their nutriment from the 

 earth, the Broomrapes form a junction with the roots of cer- 

 tain selected plants growing near them, and derive their nou- 

 rishment directly from those plants on which they fix them- 

 selves. The species here selected grows from six to nine 

 inches or even a foot in height, the stem furnished with 

 brownish scales below, and terminating in an oblong spike of 

 dull bluish -purple flowers. The calyx is divided to the base 

 on the upper side, and often also on the lower, so as to form 

 two lateral sepals, which are usually two- cleft, the segments 

 ending in long slender points. The corolla is tubular and 

 curved, hairy outside, with a two-lipped limb of five rounded 

 lobes, and having the four stamens, which form two pairs, 

 fixed to its inner surface near the base ; the anthers of these 

 stamens have the cells pointed at the lower end, and the style 

 is simple with a two-lobed stigma. These curious plants, in 

 consequence of the total absence of green, and the dull brown- 

 ish hue, might when growing be readily mistaken for dead 

 flowers. 



The Labiate or Lamiaceous plants form another family, and 

 a prominent one too, of irregular-flowered perigynous Mo- 

 nopetals. They are generally remarkable for aromatic pro- 

 perties, as in the Mint, Lavender, Rosemary, Sage, etc., and 

 include the splendid Salvia of our greenhouses and many 

 handsome border flowers. These Salvias or Sages, which are a 

 very numerous group, are represented among our field plants 



* Orobanche minor Plate 17 B. 



