310 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



SCROPHULARIA 



Protogynous wasp flowers. Nectar secreted by a 

 ring at the base of the open corolla. Cleistogamous 

 flowers also occur. There are four British species. Two 

 have the leaves glabrous ; in two they are downy. Of 

 the former, S. aquatica has the stem four-winged ; in 

 S. nodosa it is four-angled, but not winged. Of the 

 downy-leaved species, S. Scorodonia has purple flowers, 

 S. vernalis yellow. One of the stamens is barren, and 

 usually forms a scale under the upper lip. The reason 

 or use of this peculiar arrangement is not known. 



S. nodosa (Figwort). — -The flowers are small (Fig. 

 198) and generally reddish brown, which seems to be a 

 favourite colour with wasps. The tube of the corolla is 



a pale greenish purple. The 

 flower has a scent, pleasant no 

 doubt to wasps, but disagreeable 

 to us. In the first stage of the 

 flower, which lasts two days, the 

 stigma projects, and the anthers 

 are not ripe ; in the second, 

 which also lasts two days, they 

 open and expose the pollen. The 

 stigma and anthers lie on the 

 lower side of the flower, and the 

 upper (fifth) stamen being use- 

 less, the anther is not developed, 

 but forms a widened end to the 

 stamen. This, however, is so 

 well formed that I cannot help 

 suspecting it has some function 

 which has not yet been observed. The style, after ferti- 

 lisation, gradually curves down.^ In bee flowers the 

 lower blossoms generally open first, and bees begin below 

 and work their way up. Wasps, on the contrary, begin 

 at the top. The flowers open irregularly, but the general 

 result is that the younger flowers are fertilised with 



^ T. W. Fulton "On Soropliularia, " Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinb. xvi. (1886). 



Fig. 198. — Scrophularia nodosa. 



