SCROPHULARIACEAE 



FIGWORT FAMILY 



DOWNY FALSE FOXGLOVE 



Gcrardia flava L. 



The Downy False Foxglove is found in dry openings in woods 

 and thickets from Maine to Ontario and Wisconsin, south to 

 Georgia and Mississippi. It is perennial and partly parasitic on 

 the roots of other plants. 



The whole plant is covered 

 with a soft close down. The stem 

 is simple or sparingly branched 

 and 2-4 feet high. The leaves are 

 quite variable, the upper usually 

 entire and the lower variously 

 cut and toothed. All are usually 

 opposite but sometimes in whorls 

 of 3. 



The Foxgloves bloom from 

 July to September. 

 The 5 lobes of the 

 calyx are about as 

 long as the tube. The 

 corolla is yellow and 

 smooth outside. The 

 4 stamens are quite hairy and in pairs. 

 The capsule is hairy and about twice 

 as long as the calyx. 



The Smooth False Foxglove, Gerardia 

 virginica (L.) BSP., has flowers very 



much like those of the downy species except that the corolla is not 

 so widely expanded above. The plant is somewhat larger, being 3-6 

 feet tall, and is not downy. The leaves are usually petioled and much 

 more deeply cut. None are entire. The capsule is without hairs. 



The Entire-leaved False Foxglove, Gerardia laevigata Rat., 

 differs from the Smooth False Foxglove principally in having entire 

 leaves, or at most the lowest obscurely toothed. The pedicels are 

 shorter than the calyx tube and there is no bloom on the stems as 

 commonly appears on the smooth species. 



A fairj% cradled in each bloom, 

 To all who pass the charmed 

 spot 

 Whispers in warning : "Friend, 

 admire — 

 But touch me not I 



"Leave me to blossom where I 

 sprung, 

 A joy untarnished shall I seem ; 

 Pluck me. and you dispel the 

 charm 

 And blur the dream !" 



Jeu-eln-eed — Fi.grexck Earle Coates 



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