SCROPHULARIACE.E 225 



Springing from a tubercle. Leaves i-nerved, the root-leaves 

 stalked and spreading ; the stem-leaves lanceolate, sessile. Flowers 

 handsome, at first reddish purple, afterwards bright blue, rarely 

 white. Cymes short, disposed in a long, terminal panicle. It 

 differs chiefly from E. italicum (the only other species in Switzer- 

 land) by its simple, and not branched, inflorescence. 



Dry meadows and stony places in the plains and Alpine valleys. 

 June to September. Common, biennial. 



Distribution. — Europe, Western Asia, except the far north; 

 Algeria. British. 



SCROPHULARIACEiE 



Corolla monopetalous, usually 2-lipped and irregular, with 4 or 5 

 lobes. Stamens 4 or rarely 2, inserted on the tube of the corolla. 

 Ovary 2-celled. Style simple. Ovules numerous. Fruit a many- 

 seeded capsule. 



A large family, widely spread over the globe, though most 

 abundant in the temperate regions. 



Verbascum L. Mullein. 



Flowers in simple or compound spiked racemes. Corolla nearly 

 regular, 5-lobed, rotate, yellow, sometimes violet at the throat. 

 Stamens 5, unequal, with bearded filaments. Leaves usually 

 woolly. 



Over 100 species native in the Old WorldV'^liany of them hybrid- 

 ising, which makes their determination rather difpcult. 



Verbascum nigrum L. Dark Mullein. 



Stem 2-3 feet high, lightly clothed with woolly hairs, ending in a 

 long, usually simple raceme. Leaves crenate, nearly glabrous on 

 upper side, slightly wooUy beneath ; the lower ones cordate-oblong, 

 on long stalks ; the upper ones nearly sessile, small and pointed. 

 Flowers numerous, rather small in comparison with some of the 

 genus, yellow, with bright purple hairs on the filaments and purple 

 throat. 



Banks, roadsides, and hills. July, August. 



Distribution. — Europe, except the Mediterranean region and 

 extreme north ; Caucasus, Western Asia. 



Verbascum Thapsus L. Great Mullein. 



This well-known Mullein is the largest and commonest species, 

 though in Switzerland, as elsewhere, it usually occurs singly or in 

 twos and threes, not in colonies. It is 3 or 4 feet high, and the 

 leaves are wooUy and decurrent. The flowers are in a dense, woolly 

 terminal-spike often a foot long. Biennial. 



Waste places, hills, and roadsides. July, August. 



