70 
WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
usually pointed. Flowers stalkless (sessile), solitary in the axils of the leaves terminating the 
stem and branches and forming dense or loose spikes. Calyx of 4 sepals united into a tube and 
separating into 4 teeth, inserted below the seedcase (inferior) ; corolla of 5 petals uniting into a 
tube and separating into 2 lips, the upper lip erect, arched, entire or notched, and the lower 
3-lobed, slightly spreading, inserted below the seedcase (hypogynous) ; stamens 4, in 2 unequal 
pairs (didynamous), included in and inserted on the corolla-tube (epi-petalous) ; carpels 2 ; capsule 
oblong, flattened, pointed, 2-celled, with numerous minute seeds, opening from the top by 2 valves 
down the middle of the cells (loculicidal). Small herbs which are semi-parasitic : their seeds 
germinate in the earth and develop, but the roots send out numerous long branches which, 
when they come into contact with a suitable root, produce tiny roundish suckers ; these suckers 
penetrate the neighbouring root and absorb its nutriment ; the leaves are opposite. 
(1) Red Bartsia. (Bart'sia Odontites.) — Flowers pink, in x-sided branched clusters drooping 
at the tip ; leaves very narrow. 
(2) Yellow Viscid Bart'sia. (Bart'sia viscdsa.) — Flowers yellow, in long erect spikes, 
unbranched ; leaves oblong. 
(3) Alpine Bartsia. (Bart'sia alpina.) — Flowers dull purple, in short erect spikes, unbranched ; 
leaves egg-shaped. 
1 . Red Bartsia. (Bart'sia Odontites. Hudson.) — As just described. The flowers are 
inch long, pink, hairy inside, the lower lip deepening to crimson near the tube, in dense drooping 
1 -sided clusters ; the capsules are oblong, blunt with a small abrupt point; the stems are generally 
6-12 inches high, erect, wiry, branched, and reddish; and the leaves are stalkless (sessile), 
narrowly lance-shaped, with a few blunt teeth, and are also often tinged with red. ( Odontites 
rubra. Gilib. ; Euphrasia Odontites. Linn.) \Plate 25. 
Common. On roadsides, cultivated fields, and waste places ; generally distributed over England, 
Scotland, and Ireland. June — September. Annual. 
2 . Yellow Viscid Bartsia. (Bart'sia viscdsa. Linn.)— A species with yellow flowers, 
| inch long, in a long terminal spike neither i-sided nor drooping ; oblong pointed capsules ; 
wiry stems a foot or more high, sometimes slightly branched ; and oblong lance-shaped stalkless 
leaves, coarsely toothed. The whole plant is clothed with short gland-tipped hairs. (Euphragia 
viscosa. Benth.) 
Rare. Roadsides, moist meadows, and marshes, chiefly near the sea ; in the southern and 
western counties of England, and the south-west of Ireland, June — October. Annual. 
3 . Alpine Bartsia. (Bart'sia alpina. Linn.) — A species with dull purple flowers, f inch 
long, in a short dense leafy spike, the anthers covered with white hairs; the stem 6-8 inches 
high, unbranched, and the leaves stalkless (sessile), egg-shaped (ovate), and scalloped 
(crenate). 
Rare. In alpine pastures, &c., and by the sides of streams in mountain districts ; in the north of 
England and in Scotland. June — August. Perennial. 
XI. RED-RATTLE. (PEDICULAR'IS. Linn.) — Flowers red, in the British species, in leafy 
spikes or clusters (racemes). Calyx of 5 sepals, united into a broad tube, which is much inflated 
after flowering, and is irregularly and sometimes indistinctly 5-toothed, inserted below the 
seedcase (inferior) ; corolla of 5 petals united into a gaping tube and separating into 2 lips 
(bilabiate), the upper lip being arched, flattened laterally, and entire or notched and produced 
into a short tooth on either side of the notch, the lower lip 3-lobed and spreading, inserted below 
