SCKOPHULARIACE.E. 131 



five to six times as long as the calyx. Capsule smooth, glandular* 

 puhesccnt, twice as long as the calyx, convex on (lie upper side, 

 gibhous at the base on the lower. Seeds muricatcd with anasto- 

 mosing ridges. 



On old w r alls and rocks, naturalized. Not unfrequent in the 

 South of England. Completely naturalized at Catdown Quarries, 

 near Plymouth, and on the chalky banks of the railway-cutting 

 between Greenhithe and Northfleet, Kent. 



[England, Scotland, Ireland.] Shrub, or perennial. 

 Summer and Autumn. 



A soft-wooded shrub with much-branched stems 1 to 3 feet 

 high, which are decumbent and glabrous at the base. Leaves 

 opposite, or the upper ones alternate, generally with fascicles of 

 leaves at the base, 1 to 3 inches long, varying much in breadth. 

 Elowers in a close spikelike raceme at the extremity of the 

 branches 1| inch long, pale purplish-rose or nearly white in the 

 perfectly naturalized state, but sometimes crimson, white and 

 crimson or yellow when it has but lately escaped from cultivation ; 

 upper lip of the corolla with 2 obtuse oblique lobes with spreading 

 margins ; palate yellow, its point reaching to the division between 

 the lobes of the upper lip. Capsule ^ inch long. Plant dull-green, 

 glabrous below, the upper part of stem, pedicels, and calyx, with 

 gland-tipped hairs. 



Common Snapdragon. 



French, Muflier (I Grande* Flenrs. German, Grosses Lbwenmavl. 



This curious plant is well known by every village child, as well as in every garden, 

 by the name of bunny, rabbit' s-mouth, bull-dojs, &c. It is bitter and stimulant. Its 

 common name well expresses its form, for when pressed open it looks like the mouth 

 of some fabulous creature — possibly a dragon — snapping or biting. In olden time it 

 was valued as a preservative against witchcraft, a reputation it still holds in some 

 parts of the Continent. In Russia it is still cultivated for the sake of the oil yielded 

 by its seeds, said to be little inferior to olive-oil. The leaves are sometimes used as 

 cataplasms to tumours and ulcers. The flowers form perfect insect-traps, as the lips 

 easily yield to a slight pressure from without ; but when once within, the insect fiuds 

 escape impossible without gnawing a hole at the side of its prison. 



SPECIES II.— ANTIRRHINUM ORONTIUM. Linn. 



Plate DCCCCLIV. 



Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XX. Tab. MDCLXXVIII. Fig. 1. 

 Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 1723. 



Annual. Stem erect, slightly branched ; branches erect, or 

 decumbent at the base. Leaves opposite or alternate, elliptical- 

 strapshaped, attenuated at the base, but scarcely pctiolate ; the 



