f igwort 3famil^. 



Yellow Gerardia. Gerardia pedicularia. 



False Foxglove. 



Found oa the edges of dry woods through August and September. 



The stalk (from 2 to 3 feet in height) is branching, and very leafy, 

 round, and soft to the touch, being covered with fine down. Its color 

 is light green. 



The leaf is long, much cut into rounded lobes, and bearing a 

 general resemblance to a fern leaf ; the texture is fine, and the surface 

 soft, and downy ; in color light green. The leaves are placed upon the 

 stalk in pairs. 



The tubular large corolla spreads into 5 rounded, slightly irregular 

 lobes, and is a little hairy in the throat ; color, a pure clear yellow ; the 

 pistil is a thread of green, and the stamens are 4 in number ; the green 

 calyx is unequally 5-parted. The flowers, on short curving foot- 

 stems, are usually arranged in pairs, springing from the angles of the 

 upper leaves. 



A fragrance, slightly suggestive of Sweet-Fern belongs to the 

 leaves. This plant is noticeable for the fine texture of its parts ; the 

 pointed green seed-pod rising from the frill of the calyx has also a 

 decorative value. All the Gerardias bear the stigma of being " clandes- 

 tine root parasites," — they do not therefore seem worthy namesakes of 

 the honest, nature-loving old Herbalist, Gerarde, who lived in the days 

 when botanists wrote plain English. According to Gray the suckers 

 of the roots of these plants not only fasten upon other growths, but 

 upon their own, thus preying upon themselves. 



47° 



