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Descriptive Flora 



upper leaves. Leaves simple, opposite. Blades strong-scented, 

 entire, oblong to linear, less than y 2 " long. Corolla slender, tubu- 

 lar, 2-lipped, bluish or purplish, about %" long, exceeding the 

 bristly calyx half its length. Calyx tube slender, 13-ribbed, con- 

 spicuously covered with short, white, bristly hairs. March to 

 July. Widespread. Uusually dry, rocky hillsides. 



SCROPHULARIACEAE. Figwort Family. 



RHINANTHACEA. Figwort Family. In Small's Flora. 



Verbascum thapsus L. Mullein. Flannel Leaf. 



This pale, hairy, single-stemmed, leafy stalk rises from 2 to 6 

 feet from a large rosette of thick, felty leaves. Stem leaves 

 large (4 to 12 inches long), alternate, entire or obscurely toothed, 

 ascending, prominently veined, soft, densely woolly, resembling 

 flannel. Flowers yellow, crowded along the thick tough spike 

 that forms the upper part of the stem, a few blossoming each 

 day anywhere on the stem. Corolla yellow, usually less than 1" 

 across, with 5 unequal, spreading lobes, downy on the outside. 

 Stamens 5, orange-tipped, upper 3 usually fuzzy and shorter 

 than the other two. Fruit an ovoid capsule. The hairs covering 

 the plant are usually branched and are interesting when ex- 

 amined with a compound microscope. May to fall. Not common. 

 A weed. Introduced from Europe. The leaves and flowers when 

 dried properly are used in medicine in the treatment of catarrh 

 and coughs and to allay pain. The leaves should be gathered 

 when the plant is in bloom. 



Linaria texana Scheele. Toad Flax. Blue Toad Flax. 



This slim, delicate-stemmed, smooth and shining green plant 

 grows from 1 to 2 feet tall, out of a cluster of short, basal stems 

 with whorls of 3 small leaves at short intervals along each stem, 

 and bears blue, fragrant, 2-lipped, spurred flowers at the top. 

 Stem leaves few, simple, alternate, narrow, entire. Flowers 

 blossom on the upper part of the delicate stems, forming loose 

 terminal spikes. Corolla tubular, 2-lipped, with a slender spur. 



