228 PLANTS GROWING IN LIGHT SOIL. 



purple and the lower one pale yellow. Again pale and dark 

 clumps of the flowers will be found growing side by side. 

 After the bloom has passed the plants are not pretty, as the 

 fern-like leaves and pods are rather rough. 



Unfortunately, the plant is not credited with possessing any 

 especial virtue, and we have no reason to believe it is identical 

 with the ancient betony of history. 



NARROW=LEAVED COW=WHEAT. 



Mela?npyrum lijicdre. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Figwort. Pale yellow. Scentless. General. All suininer. 



Flowers : small ; solitary ; axillary. Calyx : bell-shaped ; four-cleft. 

 Corolla : tubular ; two-lipped, the upper lip arched, the lower one three-lobed. 

 Stamens ; four. Pistil : one. Leaves : opposite ; lanceolate or narrower ; the 

 upper sparingly tipped with bristles. Stem : six to twelve inches high ; erect ; 

 branching. 



Cow-wheat is so named because the Dutch at one time 

 cultivated it as food for their cattle ; and the Greek generic 

 name, Melampyrum, meaning black wheat, refers to the colour 

 of the seeds when mixed with other grain. The plant is very 

 common in our open woods, and is not particularly attractive. 



SMOOTH FALSE FOXGLOVE. 



Dasystoma Virginica. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Figwort. Yellow. Scentless. New England to Minnesota August^ September, 



southward to Florida. 



Flozvers : large; growing in a leafy raceme. Calyx: short; campanulate, 

 with five lobes. Corolla : large ; with five spreading lobes extending into a long 

 tube, the inside of which is woolly. Stamens : four, in pairs, one pair shorter 

 than the other ; woolly. Pistil : one. Leaves : opposite ; the lower ones finely 

 divided, the upper ones lanceolate ; entire. Stem : from three to six feet 

 high ; branching ; smooth. Root : parasitic. 



The figworts are one of the few families that remain with us 

 after the composites have arrived. It would seem as though 

 they were loath to leave us without some reminder of the 

 more delicate bloom of the spring and summer. In full bud 

 the plants are especially beautiful. In fact, the large showy 



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