332 THE SOKOPHULARIA FAMILY. [LimoseOa. 



annual, forming little tufts of 1 or 2 inches diameter. Leaves on long 

 stalks, oblong and entire, all radical as well as the minute flowers ; or 

 occasionally a few slender stems are developed among the leaves, about 

 an inch long, and bearing at their summit a similar tuft of leaves and 

 flowers. Corolla of a pale rose-colour, scarcely longer than the calyx. 

 In wet mud, or in places where water has stood, throughout Europe 

 and a great part of Asia, Africa, and North America. Thinly scattered 

 in England, and very local in Scotland, absent from Ireland, but from 

 its small size it may be frequently overlooked. Fl. summer. 



VII. SIBTHOEPIA, SIBTHORPIA. 



Slender, hairy, trailing herbs, with alternate leaves, and small, 

 axillary, yellow or pinkish flowers. Calyx of 4 or more divisions. 

 Corolla nearly rotate, with 5 lobes, or 1 more than the calyx. Stamens 

 of the same number as, or 1 less than the lobes of the corolla. Anthers 

 2-celled. Capsule compressed, divided into 2 cells, and opening in the 

 middle of the cells in 2 valves. 



Besides the British species there is one from the Canary Islands, with 

 larger yellow flowers, often cultivated in our gardens under the name 

 of Disandra prostrata, and two from the Andes of South America. 



1. S. europeea, Linn. (fig. 748). Common Sibthorpia. A perennial, 

 with a small stock, and very slender creeping stems rooting at the 

 nodes. Leaves small, on slender stalks, orbicular, deeply cordate at the 

 base, crenate, and hairy. Flowers very minute, on short, axillary 

 stalks. Calyx with 4 narrow segments. Corolla scarcely longer, the 2 

 upper lobes yellowish, the 3 lower broader and pink. 



In moist, shady places, along the western coasts of Europe, penetrat- 

 ing eastward to a very few stations round the Mediterranean, and ex- 

 tending northwards to the Channel Islands, southern Ireland, South 

 Wales, and the south-west of England. Fl. summer. 



VIII. DIGITALIS. FOXGLOVE. 



Biennials or perennials, with stout, erect, usually simple stems, 

 alternate leaves, and showy flowers, in long, terminal, one-sided, 

 simple racemes. Calyx of 5 unequal sepals or segments. Corolla 

 tubular, contracted above the base, then much inflated, with the 

 limb shortly 4- or 5-lobed ; the lateral lobes outside the upper one 

 in the bud, and the lowest usually the longest. Stamens 4. Capsule 

 pointed, opening at the partition in 2 valves, with numerous small 

 seeds. 



A European and north Asiatic genus, of which several species 

 besides our own are occasionally cultivated in flower-gardens, especially 

 the yellow D. grandiflora. 



1. D. purpurea, Linn. (fig. 749). Purple F. Root usually biennial, 

 but sometimes forming a stock, which flowers a second or even a 

 third time. Radical leaves on long stalks, ovate or ovate -lanceolate, 

 6 inches long or more, coarsely veined and downy. Flowering stems 

 2 to 4 feet high, with a few alternate shortly-stalked leaves in the 

 lower part, the upper part occupied by a long stately raceme of purple 



