The Privet.
2. The Crested Cow Wheat (M. cristatum).—A widely-distributed plant, found principally in the copses and thickets of the eastern and southern counties. Its stem is from six to twenty inches in height; and the leaves are very narrow, and generally entire except in the case of a few of the upper ones, which are slightly toothed at the base. The flowers are yellow, more or less variegated with purple, about half an inch long, and they closely overlap one another in a dense, four-sided spike over an inch in length. Under each flower is a broad, heart-shaped, strongly-toothed, rose-coloured bract. The plant blooms during July.
3. The Wood or Yellow Cow Wheat (M. sylvaticum), sometimes known as the Small-flowered Cow Wheat. This is a much rarer plant, and seems to be found only in the hilly woods of Scotland and North England. It is very much like the Common Cow Wheat, but its flowers are of a deep yellow colour, less than half an inch long, with entire bracts, and equal, open lips. The corolla is only twice the length of the calyx, and the lanceolate leaves are very seldom toothed.
Millet Grass.
Bearded Wheat.
The same order (Scrophulariaceæ) contains the handsome and favourite Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), which grows abundantly in most dry woods and shady wastes, flowering from June to August. Its stout, unbranched stem varies from two to six feet in height, a large proportion being the axis of a long one-sided raceme of beautiful, drooping, purple or, occasionally, white flowers. The fruit is an ovate, pointed capsule that splits into two valves and contains many seeds. It is remarkable that this plant does not grow freely on chalk and limestone soils, yet it will often make a sudden appearance in great profusion as we pass over the edge of a calcareous district. The flower is shown on [Plate II], Fig. 2.
Of the order Labiatæ we shall note one species only, and that is the pretty Wood Betony (Stachys Betonica), a very common plant in the woods and thickets of the south of Britain. It is a hairy species, with a slender, simple or slightly-branched stem from one to two feet high; and deeply-crenate, oblong leaves. The lower leaves have long stalks, and are heart-shaped at the base; but those of the stem are narrower, sessile or shortly stalked, tapering at the base. The flowers, which bloom from June to August, vary much in colour, ranging from a deep purple or crimson to a rose-pink or (rarely) white; and they form a dense oblong, terminal spike, consisting of whorls of six or more, with a bract at the base of each calyx, and a pair of sessile leaves just below the lowest whorl. The calyx is ribbed, with five very sharp teeth; and the corolla, which is much longer than the sepals, has an erect, oval, upper lip, and a spreading, three-lobed, lower lip. The stamens are in two pairs, immediately under the upper lip; and the fruit consists of four little rounded nuts.