FIGWORT FAMILY 



Radical leaves. — ^Ovate, crowded; stem leaves alternate, oblong-ovate, 

 rough, downy. 



Flowers, — Drooping, tubular, in dense terminal one-sided spikes. 



Calyx. — Four-parted, the upper segment the smallest. 



Corolla. — A drooping bell about two inches long; more or less in- 

 flated tube with short, obscurely lobed border; ranging from purple to 

 white, more or less spotted within; throat bearded. 



Stamens. — Four, in two pairs, inserted on the corolla-tube; filaments 

 curved so as to bring the anthers together; mature before the stigma. 



Ovary. — Cone-shaped, two-celled; style an inch or more long; 

 stigma two-cleft. 



Capsule. — Two-celled, p)T:amidaI; seeds numerous, small, grayish- 

 brown. 



The Garden Foxglove is in the main the Common Foxglove 

 of central Europe improved- by cultivation and more or less hyb- 

 ridized. The name Foxglove seems so inappropriate that much 

 questioning has arisen concerning its origin. The best explanation 

 is that Foxglove is a corruption of folkglove which, of course, meant 

 fairy glove and referred to the thimble-like shape of the flower. 

 The specific name Digitalis refers to the same characteristic. 



A well-grown Foxglove in full flower is a plant of dignity and 

 beauty, admirably adapted for shrubberies and woodland walks, 

 hardy and easily grown. The root is biennial or sometimes peren- 

 nial, and the first year sends forth large tufted leaves; in the follow- 

 ing summer a single, erect, leafy stem arises, bearing at its summit 

 a densely flowering raceme of beautiful drooping bells. In this 

 raceme the flowering impulse moves slowly upward, thus lengthen- 

 ing the blooming period. The position of the bells on the flower- 

 ing axis is secund, that is, all on one side; sometimes as many as 

 four rows strive to occupy the coign of vantage. This arrange- 

 ment is more apparent than real, the flowers really originate on 

 all sides of the stem, but the peduncles somehow twist around 

 so that all seem to be on one side. As the fruiting capsules ma- 

 lure the peduncles take their natural position and a fruiting stem 

 has its capsules on every side. 



To understand what is doing of a summer day in foxglove-land 

 one needs to watch the bees, whose contented buzzing as they 

 gather the nectar stored in the bottom of each swollen bell, dis- 



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