THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



197 



obvious, as it would have been in the 

 way of the style, which at present 

 occupies the position it should have 

 held. That the foxglove at one time 

 possessed five stamens is rendered cer- 

 tain from the fact that blossoms con- 

 taining the rudiments of a fifth 

 stamen are still of not unfrequent 

 occurrence. Only this summer I 

 gathered a plant in which a number 

 of the blossoms had a fifth stamen 

 fairly well developed. The history of 

 the Natural Order (Scrojohulariacece) 

 to which the foxglove belongs confirms 

 this theory, for in the figworts (Scro- 

 phularia) it is always present as a 

 rudimentary scale ; and in pentstemons 

 as the name implies, five stamens are 

 always present ; whilst in the veronicas 

 they are reduced to two. Belonging 

 to such a highly variable family, it is 

 no wonder that the foxglove manifests 

 quite a marvellous mutability — there 

 is scarcely a floral freak of form but 

 what it shares. In vegetable teratology^ 

 or the science of abnormal growths, it 

 may be said to exhibit every vagary. 

 Sometimes a curious whorl of united 

 flowers are found forming a rosette at 

 the apex of the stem; or again the 

 united tubular corolla is resolved into 

 its separate parts of five free petals, 

 whilst spurs and excresences of various 

 kinds occur occasionally. Its change- 

 ability of colour is equally great, from 

 pure white to the deepest purple ; but 

 even the white varieties usually display 



a slight speckling of the eye-like spots. 

 The foxglove seems specially adapted 

 to be fertilized by humble-bees, who 

 alone have bodies large enough to fill 

 the cavity of the corolla, and it is sur- 

 prising how partial they are to visiting 

 its showy blossoms. Although the 

 whole plant exhales a dull, heavy 

 odour when cut or bruised, the flowers 

 have no perfume — to our senses at 

 least, — so that we may conclude bees 

 are attracted chiefly or solely by the 

 colours of its corolla. 



In geographical range the foxglove 

 extends over the whole of Europe. In 

 our own country it is met with in 

 every county from Cornwall to Orkney, 

 but is said to be rare in the fen coun- 

 try, and is recorded as absent from 

 the magnesian limestone in Durham, a 

 statement I am not prepared to verify 

 or contradict, although I have dili- 

 gently but uneffectually searched for 

 it in likely localities. It undoubtedly 

 prefers dry, hilly districts, and attains 

 an altitude of 1,800 feet in the High- 

 lands. 



None of our native plants have a 

 higher or more deserved medicinal 

 reputation. It has long retained its 

 place in the orthodox pharmacopsea, 

 and every rustic dabbler in herbs 

 knows less or more of its virtues, by 

 whom it is esteemed as a sovereign 

 remedy in dropsies ; and the rural 

 cow-doctor holds a salve of its leaves 

 to be an invaluable ointment for the 



