342 THE SOROPHULAKIA FAMILY. [Melampyrum. 



Asia, but not so common as some other species. In Britain, chiefly 

 confined to eastern England. Fl. summer. 



2. M. arvense, Linn. (fig. 774). Purple C. — A taller and handsomer 

 plant than M. cristatum, and usually covered with a very short close 

 down. Leaves lanceolate, toothed at the base. Flowers in a long, 

 loose, leafy spike, beautifully variegated ; the bracts often longer than 

 the flowers, at first pink, turning green as they advance, and bordered 

 by long slender teeth. Calyx purplish green, with similar long teeth. 

 Corolla 6 to 8 lines long, with a pink tube, a bright yellow throat, and 

 deep-red lips. 



In cornfields, in temperate Europe, from south Sweden to the Cau- 

 casus, often proving very injurious to the crops. In Britain confined to 

 a few localities in south-eastern England and in Norfolk. Fl. summer. 



3. M. pratense, Linn. (fig. 775). Common C— Stem erect or 

 ascending, 6 inches to a foot high, with very spreading, opposite 

 branches, usually glabrous or nearly so. Leaves lanceolate, the floral 

 ones distant from each other, short, and often toothed at the base. 

 Flowers pure yellow, in distant axillary pairs, all turned one way, and 

 about 6 to 8 lines long ; the teeth of the calyx usually erect and shorter 

 than the tube, but they vary much both in length and direction. 



Chiefly in woods, throughout Europe and Russian Asia. Abundant 

 in Britain. Fl. summer and autumn. 



4. M. sylvaticum, Linn. (fig. 776). Small-flowered C. — Very near 

 M. pratense, and not always easy to distinguish from it. It is usually 

 a smaller plant, with the floral leaves almost always entire, and the 

 flowers very much smaller, of a deep yellow ; the calycine teeth are 

 more conspicuous, and the lower ones spreading. Corolla seldom above 

 4 lines long. 



A high northern and alpine plant, not unfrequent in the woods of 

 northern Europe and Asia, and in the high mountain-ranges of central 

 Europe, the Caucasus, and Altai. In Britain, apparently limited to 

 Scotland, northern England, and north-eastern Ireland. Fl. summer. 



LVII. LABIATiE. THE LABIATE FAMILY, 



Herbs, or rarely shrubs, with quadrangular stems or branches, 

 and leaves always opposite. Flowers in the axils of the upper 

 leaves or bracts, rarely solitary in each axil, more frequently in 

 cymes, often so closely clustered that the two opposite cymes 

 appear like one whorl of 6, 10, or more flowers (sometimes 

 called a verticillaster or false whorl), the whole forming usually 

 a terminal compound spike, raceme, or panicle (more strictly 

 termed a thyrsus). Besides the pair of floral leaves or bracts 

 under the whorls, there are often smaller bracts to each flower 

 in the whorl. Calyx 5-toothed, or rarely 2- or 3-lobed. Corolla 

 with a distinct tube and a more or less irregular 4- or 5-lobed 

 limb, usually forming two lips. Stamens 2, or 4 in 2 pairs. 

 Ovary 4-lobed, with 1 erect ovule in each lobe, and a single 



