E UPHRASI A OFFICINALIS— EYE • BRIGHT. 



I. INN. CLASS, GYMNOSPERMIA ; ORDBR. AGIOSPERMIA. 

 NATURAL ORDER, RHINANTHACEjE. 



This pretty flower, of which there are two varieties, 

 differing only in color, is found growing in situations where 

 the soil is light and dry. It is frequently seen on the borders 

 of the travelled high road, and seems to smile upon the way- 

 farer as cheerfully from its dusty bed as it might from its more 

 woodland haunts. It is one of the most delicate of our wild 

 flowers, and the peculiar form of the bud, with its square fold- 

 ings, like the envelope of a tiny billet-doux, might entitle it to 

 the name of the " Fairy's Love-letter." It blooms during the 

 months of July and August, and seldom exceeds eighteen inches 

 in height. 



The calyx is cylindric; corolla two-lipped; the upper lip 

 two-cleft ; lower lip three-cleft, lobed, with the divisions two- 

 cleft ; lower antlers lobed, spinose ; leaves ovate, obtusely 

 toothed ; lower division of the lip emarginate. 



