320 BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS chap. 



ant {F. fusca). They resemble it in size and colour 

 and in the possession of a black spot at one end. As a 

 rule, our English ants take no notice of seeds. But, as 

 I have proved by actual experiment, they take up and 

 carry off the seeds of Melampyrum, mistaking them 

 apparently for the chrysalises, which they so much 

 resemble.^ The stem is quadrangular, pubescent, or 

 nearly glabrous ; the leaves, as throughout the genus, 

 being narrow and opposite. It bears two rows of hairs ; 

 the lateral horizontal branches have one row on the lower 

 side. 



M. arvense. — The general arrangement resembles 

 that of M. pratense, but the tube of the corolla is bent 

 in a manner which makes it peculiarly convenient for 

 the proboscis of a humble bee. The lower lip is also 

 slightly bent, so that, as in Antirrhinum, it closes the 

 orifice and excludes small creeping insects. The plant 

 is covered with short stiff hairs. 



M. cristatum. — This species differs in colour in 

 different districts. In the Southern Tyrol the bracts 

 are pale yellow ; in Lower Austria and Hungary, red. 

 The plant is pubescent, especially near the summit. It 

 is a rare British plant, occurring in fields and copses in 

 our eastern counties. 



M. sylvaticum is also rare, occurring in sub-Alpine 

 woods in the North of England and Scotland. The 

 leaves are glabrous or finely puberulent. 



Pedicularis (Lousewort) 



Semi - parasitic annual or perennial herbs with 

 homogamous, or rarely protogynous, flowers. Nectar 

 secreted by a ridge at the base of the ovary. The 

 general arrangement of the flowers is as in the preceding 

 genera. There are two British species. P. palustris is 

 erect, and the calyx has 2 broad jagged lobes. P. 

 sylvatica is prostrate, and the calyx has 4 or 5 lobes 

 or teeth. 



' Ants, Bees, and Wasps. Lundstrom (Fflanzen-Biol . Studien) has inde- 

 pendently made the same suggestion. 



