The Yellow Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris), of the same order, is a very pretty plant, from one to three feet high, exceedingly common on banks, hedges, and the borders of fields, bearing dense, terminal racemes of yellow flowers from June to October. Its calyx is small, and deeply divided into five segments; and the corolla, which has a long pointed spur at the base, is closed above by the bright orange 'palate' of the lower lip.
The Yellow Toadflax.
In the order Verbenaceæ we have the common Vervein (Verbena officinalis), a common plant in the dry wastes of the South of England, and moderately frequent in some other parts. This is a smooth, erect plant, with long, spreading, wiry, four-angled stems; and small, lilac flowers in long, slender spikes. There are but few leaves towards the top of the plant, and these are narrow and sessile, while the lower leaves are broader, stalked, and coarsely toothed. When the flowers first appear they are close together, but the spike increases in length as the flowering proceeds, so that the lower flowers and fruits become more distant. Each flower has a five-toothed calyx, and an irregular corolla with a short tube and five unequal lobes. The Vervein grows from one to two feet high, and flowers from July to September.
The Vervein.
Passing now to the Labiates, we deal first with two species of Calamints (genus Calamintha), which are to be distinguished from the other genera of the order by their axillary cymes of flowers, with calyx and corolla both lipped, and the upper lip of the latter erect and flat.
One of these, the common Calamint (Calamintha officinalis), is a hairy plant, with an erect, branched stem, one or two feet high, and stalked, ovate, toothed leaves. The whorls of flowers are compound, in forked, axillary cymes. The calyx is tubular, with thirteen ribs and five pointed teeth. The three upper teeth are united at their base to form the upper lip, while the other two, longer and narrower, form the lower. The corolla is almost twice as long as the calyx, with an upper, erect lip, and a lower lip with three broad lobes. The stamens are four in number, in pairs, under the upper lip.
The Lesser Calamint (C. Nepeta) is a very similar plant, by some held to be merely a variety of C. officinalis. Its leaves are shortly stalked, but slightly toothed, and only about half an inch in length. The flowers are about as long as the leaves, arranged in whorls of eight or ten, with corolla about half as long again as the calyx. In both species the mouth of the calyx is hairy, but the hairs are much more prominent in the Lesser Calamint than in the last. Both plants are frequently seen on sunny waysides, flowering during July and August.