DIDYNAMIA. ANGIOSPEItMIA. Scrophularia. 737 
Old walls; chalk cliffs near Dover, and between Northfleet and Gravesend. 
W alls near Norwich, and Cambridge. Mr. Woodward. W alls of Rushall 
Castle near Walsall. Mr. Pitt. Near the Hermitage at Warkworth, 
Northumberland : on the walls of Barnard Castle. Winch Guide. Salt- 
ford, Warwickshire. Littleton, Worcestershire. Purton. In Somerset¬ 
shire and Devonshire, plentiful, and on Berkeley Castle and Church in 
rich profusion. Also at Redland, Westbury, Henbury, &c. near Bristol. 
On the mouldering walls of Canterbury. E.) P. June—Aug.* 
SCROPHULA'RIA.f Cal five-cleft: Bloss. reversed; tube 
globular; the lower segment reflexed : Caps . two-celled, 
partition double. 
S. scobodo'nia. Leaves heart-shaped, doubly serrated, (downy be-* 
neath: E.) cluster compound, leafy. 
(E. Bot. 2209. E.)— H. Ox. v. 35, row. 2 .f. 2— Pluh. 59. 5— Pet. 35. 11. 
Stem very hairy, obtusely quadrangular, two or three feet high. E.) 
* (In Russia this plant is said to be cultivated for its seeds, which yield an oil little inferior 
to that produced from Olives. E.) Though the seeds vegetate on the ground, it is only in 
dry soils and situations that the plant continues to live long enough to produce flowers. 
(Probably not originally indigenous, but certainly a valuable acquisition even to the 
flower-garden, into which several striking varieties have been introduced, with blossom* 
of finely contrasted red and white, or altogether of the richest crimson. “ The flowers 
of these plants are perfect insect-traps. Multitudes of small creatures seek an entrance 
into the corolla through the closed lips, which upon a slight pressure yield a passage, 
attracted by the sweet liquor that is found at the base of the germen ; but when so ad¬ 
mitted, there is no return, the lips are closed, and all advance to them is impeded by a 
dense thicket of woolly matter, which invests the mouth of the lower jaw;—- 
<e Smooth lies the road to Pluto’s gloomy shade ; 
But ’tis a long, unconquerable pain. 
To climb to the eethereal realms again.” 
But this Snapdragon is more merciful than most of our muscicapce. The creature 
receives no injury ; but, having consumed the nectareous liquor, and finding no egress, 
breaks from its dungeon by gnawing a hole at the base of the tube, and thus returns to 
liberty and light. The extraordinary manner in which the corolla is formed, the elastic 
force with which the lower limb closes and fits upon the projection of the upper, manifest 
the obvious design of the great Architect, “whose hands bended the rainbow;” and the 
insects are probably the destined agents whereby the germen is impregnated ; for as soon 
as this is effected, the limbs become flaccid, lose their elasticity, and are no longer a place of 
confinement. The ant is a common plunderer of this honey.” Journal of a Naturalist. 
Vid. also Note to Drosera. The ingenuity of bees has been remarkably exemplified in this 
species of Antirrhinum , and also in A. Linaria , and some other plants whose flowers, 
from their long tubular formation, deny admission to the broad head and thorax of the 
insect. Well knowing the exact position of the prize he vainly seeks to obtain by usual 
means, he pierces the calyx as well as the tube with his horny proboscis, inserting it into 
the orifice, and thus readily abstracting the honey. E.) All the varieties of Snapdragon 
have the power of maintaining a state of vegetation in great droughts, and their usual 
stations are peculiarly exposed to the influence of the sun. Dr. Threlkeld assures us that 
during the prevalence of Popery, <c many frivolous superstitious fables were reported of the 
power of this plant against spectres, charms, and witchcraft, rather savouring of rank 
heathenish magick, than comporting with sound reason ; for the use of reliques, Agnus 
Deis, &c., are wicked trumpery, and defending against the devil’s sword with the devil’s 
buckler. Our being implanted into the covenant of grace is compleat security against 
satan’s power, unless so far as God permits for the trial of our faith and patience in our 
Christian warfare.” E.) 
t From its supposed virtues in curing Scrophula. E.) 
l 2 
