THE FOXGLOVE 11 



an elaborate network, and are depressed on the upper surface, while 

 they project strongly below. Both upper and lower surfaces 

 of the blade are covered with fine short hairs, which are most 

 noticeable on the veins below. In the axil of each leaf a bud is, 

 as usual, present, but most of these do not develop farther. 



In a plant in flower, such as is represented in the accompanying 

 coloured plate, the shoot has elongated greatly and bears a number 

 of foliage-leaves below, and above this the inflorescence. In 

 strong plants smaller additional inflorescences, developed from the 

 buds in the axils of some of the lower leaves, will be found. By 

 the time a plant has reached this stage the leaves of the basal 

 rosette are usually withered and brown, but their remains or the 

 scars they leave can still be made out at the base of the stem. 

 The foliage-leaves on the stem above this resemble those of the 

 rosette, but are separated by distinct internodes. The stem bear- 

 ing them appears slightly ridged, the ridges continuing down from 

 the sides of the leaf-base. Like the other parts of the plant, it 

 bears fine hairs, and is either green or more or less purple in colour. 

 On proceeding up the stem the leaves become successively smaller 

 (Plate, Fig 2), and the uppermost ones often have small lateral 

 flowering shoots in their axils. These small leaves lead to the 

 bracts, which are small pointed leaves of a green or purplish 

 colour; they have no stalks. In the axil of each bract is a 

 single flower. The bracts are arranged spirally around the stem, 

 but the flowers appear to stand on one side only. This is due 

 to bending of the flower-stalks which causes all the flowers to 

 face the strongest source of light. The flowers open in regular 

 order from below upwards, and as the inflorescence is of con- 

 siderable length the plant is in flower for a long time. The lateral 

 inflorescences found in strong plants resemble the main flowering 

 shoot. 



Each flower has a thin cylindrical hairy stalk. The calyx 

 consists of five green sepals, one of which is much smaller than 

 the others, and stands in the middle line behind. Within the 

 calyx comes the irregular corolla, the five petals forming this 

 being completely united into a wide tubular or bell-shaped 

 structure. This is rounded and bulged out below, while it is 

 flattened on the upper side. The upper lip is composed, as a slight 



