236 DIDYNAMIA — ANGIOSPEllM I A. IMtlampyrum. 



Corn-fiel(1s and waste places, frequent. Fl. Juh', Aiig.0. — Racemes 

 many, long, erect. Flowers rcddisii-purple. 



23. Euphrasia. Linn, Eye-bright. 



1. E. officinalis, L. (common Eye-hriglU) ; leaves ovate deeply 

 toothed, lobes of the lower lip emarginate. E- Bat. ^. 1 4 1 G. 



Pastures in the plains and on the mountains, aliundant. FL July. ©. 

 — Varying from one inch, with often only a single flower, to 6 and 8 

 .inches, in the Higldand pastures, where it becomes very much branched. 

 Flowers axillary, but crowded at the extremities of the branches, white 

 or reddish, streaked with purple. The plant is still much used in rustic 

 practice as a remedy for diseases of the eye. Milton represents the 

 Archangel Michael as employing it to remove the film from the eyes of 

 our first parent, occasioned by eating the forbidden fruit : 



" then purged with Euphrasij and Rue 

 The visual nerve, for he had much to see." 



24. Rhina'nthus. Linn. Yellow-rattle. 



1. R. Crista- Gain, L. (common Yellow-rattle) ; leaves lanceo- 

 late serrated, flowers in lax spikes, calyx glabrous, style includ- 

 ed, seeds with a broad membranous border. E. Bot. t. 657. 



Meadows and pastures, abundant. Fl. June. 0. — One to 2 feet high, 

 glabrous, often much branched and more or less spotted with purple. 

 Leaves vein}^ Flowers axillary in the upper leaves or hracteas, and 

 hence loosely spiked. When the fruit is ripe, the seeds rattle in the 

 husky capsule, and indicate to the Swedish peasantry the season for 

 gathering in their hay. In England, Mr Curtis well observes the hay- 

 making begins when this plant is in full flower. How far the following 

 may be considered as really distinct, I cannot say, as I have not had the 

 opportunity of studying the living plant. 



2. R. major, Ehrh. (large bushy Yellow-rattle) ; leaves linear 

 lanceolate, upper ones especially acuminated, flowers in crowd- 

 ed spikes, calyx glabrous, style a little exserted, seeds with a 



narrow membranous border. E. Bot. Suppl. t. 2737 R. Crista- 



Gain, (3. L. 



Corn-fields in the north of England. Fl. July, 2 or 3 weeks later 

 than the preceding species. 0. — Mr Backhouse observes, that the pre- 

 sent plant has denser and more bushy spilies. and yellowish bracteas, 

 each terminated by an elongated green point. Tlie segments of the 

 upper lip of the corolla are wedge-shaped, purple; the germen is nar- 

 rower and more tumid : the style prominent: the nectary heart-shaped, 

 more spreading and greenish. The seeds are thick at the edge and not 

 quite destitute of a membranous margin. It is frequent upon the continent. 



25. Melampyrum. Linn. Cow-wheat. 



1. M. cristdtum, L. (crested Cow-ivheat) ; spikes densely im- 

 bricated 4 -sided, bracteas cordate acuminated finely ciliato-den- 

 tate. E. Bot. t. 41. 



Wood^, thickets and sometimes in corn-fields, chiefly in Norfolk, Cam- 

 bridgeshire, Bedfordshire, and Huntingdonshire. Fl. July. . — A 

 beautiful plant, as is the following. Xeat;es lanceolate, acuminate, entire. 

 Jhacteas rose-coloured at the base. Floivers yellow, purple within the 

 upper lip. 



I 



