196 



Descriptive Flora 



hairs. Lower lip longer than the upper, with two broad lateral 

 lobes the middle lobe striped with yellow within. Calyx 5-lobed, 

 the lobes of different lengths and purplish like the base of the 

 corolla. Stamens 4, of two lengths, each tipped by a 2-celled 

 anther that has a broad red band running through the middle. 

 Pistil longer than the stamens and flattened at the tip. Pods 3 

 to 5 inches long, large at the base and tapering into a hook that 

 is sticky when green. When ripe the pod turns dark brown and 

 splits lengthwise, forming two horns, the probable origin of its 

 popular names. Summer and fall. In low, waste ground. The 

 following is an excerpt from a letter written by Miss Yukona 

 Baylor of Baylor, Montana : 1 1 The young pods of the Devil's horn 

 plant are used as a substitute for cucumbers in pickling. As 

 this country is too cold for cucumbers (they do not mature be- 

 fore the early frosts), we have planted Devil's horn this year." 

 Genus named for Martyn, an English botanist. 



PL ANT AGIN ACE AE . Plantain Family. 

 Plantago accident aMs Dene. Common Plantain Rib-wort. 



Stemless plants with a tuft of 3 to 5-ribbed leaves and 1 to 

 several, slender, leafless spikes, 2 to 8 inches high, coming straight 

 out of the tuft. Leaves all basal, 1 to 4% inches long, oblong to 

 spatulate, covered with single or branched hairs, and narrowed 

 into margined flat petioles. Spikes 2 to 6 inches long, densely 

 flowered. Petals 4, minute, membraneous, spreading in the 

 staminate flowers and erect in the pistillate. Stamens 4, equally 

 small. A common weed. 



Plantago rJiodosperma Dene. Plantain. Rib-wort. 



Similar to Plantago occidentails but leaves are not always 

 spreading. Corolla lobes ovate to deltoid-ovate (not narrowly 

 ovate) and seeds are dark red (not fuscous). Common weed. 



Plantago Tielleri Small. Plantain. Rib-wort. 



Similar to the above species but having small, narrower, 3- 



