MELAMPYRUM SYLVATICUM. SMALL-FLOWERED
COW-WHEAT.
MELAMPYRUM sybiaticum; floribus axillaribus secundls conjugationibus remotis, corolla calyce
vix duplo longioie patente, labiis longitudine asqualibus, bracteis integris.
MELAMPYRUM sylvaticum. Lirm. Sp. PI. p. 843. Light/. Scot.p. 325. With. B o t.A r r . ed. 4.
ml. 3 . p. 536. (Ed. FI. Dan. t. 145. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2. ml. 1. P . XL p 2 1 .
Willd. Sp. PI. ml. 3. p. 199. Smith FI. Brit. p. 653. Engl. Bot. t. 804. Decani.
FI. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 3. p. 486. FI. Gall. Syn. p. 214. Wahl. FI. Lapp. p. 166.
Alton Hart. Kew. ed. 2. ml. 4. p. 3. Hook. FI. Scot. P .Ï . p. 187.
MELAMPYRUM alpestre. Pers. Syn. PI. ml. 2■ p. 151.
MELAMPYRUM foliis integerrimis, floribus hiantibus. Hall. Helv. n. 307.
But. Bosschig martkoom. Fr. Le Mélampire des bois. Germ. Derwald-Keshioeizen. Norw. Maritemidde.
Swed. Skogrete.
Class a n d O r d e r . DIDYNAMIA ANGIOSPERMIA.
W a t u r a l O r d e r . MELAMPYRACEÆ, Richard, Hook. PEDICULARES, Jars. RHINANTHÂ-
L CEÆ, DecandJ]
Gbn . Char. Corolla labium superius compressum, revolutum, inferius trifidum. Capsula oblonga, biloculans,
obliqua, lateraliter dchiscens; loculis monospermis. Semina basi gibbosa.
Ge n . C har. Upper lip of the Corolla compressed, revolute at the margin, lower lip trifid. Capsule oblong,
two-celled, oblique, opening on one side; the cells one-seeded. Seeds gibbous a t the base.
R a d ix parva, fibrosa, annua.
Ca ULIS spithamæus ad pedalem, erectus, flexuosus,
obtuse tetragonus, scabriusculus, ramosus; ra-
mis paucis, oppositis, sim plicibus, distantibus.
FOLIA opposita, remota, horizontaliter patentia, lance-
olato-acuminata, flexuosa, nervosa ; nervis proeci-
pue scabriusculis, integerrima, siccitate nigra:
floralia suprema minora, rarissime basi dentata.
FLORES parvi, flavi, solitarii, subsecundi, in axillis fere
omnium foliorùm.
CALYX tubulosus, scabriusculus, nervosus, quadrifidus,
laciniis lanceolatis, erectiusculis, demum post
florescentiam reflexo-patentibus.
COROLLA calyce subduplo longior, basi tubulosa, alba,
apice bilabiata, fauce subaperto, labio superiore
compresso-galeato, margine incrassato pubes-
cente, inferiore longitudine subæquâli, tripartito,
segmentis oblongis, paululum recurvatis, intus
leviter pubescentibus.
STAMINA quatuor, didynama, prope medium corollæ
inserta: Eilamenta breviuscula : Antheræ sagitta
te , flavæ, dorso viridi, marginibus pilosis,
biloculares, loculis longitudinaliter dehiscentibus.
PlSTILLUM: Germen ovatum, biloculare, tetrasper-
mum: Stylus longus, filiformis : Stigma acutum,
simplex. . . .
Root small, fibrous, annual.
St em from a span to a foot high, erect, flexuose,
P e r ic a r p ium : Capsula ovata, gibbosa, bivalvis, bi-
locularis, tetrasperma, abortione sæpissime di-
sperma : Disse pi mentum valvis contrarium, demum
bipartibile.
Recepta cüLUM tuberculum parvum, prope basin dis-
sèpimenti. \
Sem e n majusculum, ovale, flavo-fuscum, basifungosum:
Albumen copiosum, carnoso-corneum.
E mbryo in extremitate superiore albuminis immersus,
rectus, hilo oppositus : Cotyledones breves :
Radicula incrassata, supera.
obscurely four-sided, roughish, branched; the
branches few, Opposite, simple, distantly placed.
L eaves opposite, distant, horizontally patent, lanceo-
lato-acuminate, flexuose, nerved; the nerves
slightly rough, entire, turning black when dry :
the uppermost floral leaves less than the others,
very rarely toothed at the base.
F lowers small, yellow, solitary, subsecund, springing
from the axils o f almost all the leaves.
Caly x tubular, rough, nerved, four-cleft, the segments
lanceolate, nearly erect, after inflorescence becoming
between patent and reflexed.
Corolla about twice the length o f the calyx, tubular
and white at its base, two-lipped at the mouth,
the mouth a little open, the upper lip helmetshaped
and compressed, the margin incrassated,
downy, the lower lip nearly o f the same length,
tripartite, its segments oblong, a little recurved,
within slightly pubescent.
St am e n s four, didynamous, inserted at about the middle
of the corolla: Filaments rather short: Anthers
sagittate, yellow, green on the back, their
margins hairy, two-celled, the cells splitting
open lengthways.
P is t il : Germen ovate, two-celled, four-seeded: Style
long, filiform: Stigma acute, simple.
P e r ic a r p : a Capsule, ovate, gibbous, two-valved,
two-celled, four-seeded, being often by imperfection
only two-seeded : Dissepiment contrary
to the valves, finally dividing in two parts.
Recepta cle a small tubercle at the base o f the dissepiment.
Se e d very large, oval, yellowish-brown, spongy at its
base. Albumen in large quantity, between
fleshy and horny.
Embryo immersed in the upper extremity of the albumen,
straight, opposite to the h ilum C o ty le dons
short: Radicle thickened, superior.
Fla 1 Calvx Fig. 2. Corolla, side view. Fig. 3. Corolla seen on the underside. Fig. 4. Corolla cut open.
%g's 5 and 6. Anthers. Fig. 7. Pistil. Fig. 8. Germen cut open transversely, showing the four ovules.
! C a p S iir J fe . 10. Seed (n a t size). Fig. U . Capsule opening. Fig 12. Transverse section of a
Capsule Fig. 13' One valve of a Capsule with one perfect and one abortive seed. Fig. 14. Seed cut open
veTcaUy to show, the inverted Embryo near the upper extremity.-«« but Jigs. 9 and 10 more or less mag-
nified.
Of the four British species of Melampyrum, two of them, the M . cristatum and M . aromse, are remarkable
for their closely imbricated and beautifully coloured bracteas; while the other two, M . prat erne and
t o subiect of this plate, bear their flowers in the axils of their distantly placed floral leaves which scarcely
differ from the restPof the foliage. By many botanists, misled, as Sir James Smith observes, by their specific
names t o two latter species were confounded, the M . pratense, which certainly frequently grows in woods,
bein» by them called the sytoatieum. Both these plants indeed inhabit woods, but the present individual is by
f a 7 t o least common, being confined to more or less alpine countries, as the northern pure of England and
Scot mid and may always be known by its corolla of a very deep yellow hue, which is not above wice the
leneth of t o calyx, and which has a slightly expanded mouth, and a lower lip not protruded beyond t o upper
one8 This species is said sometimes to have its upper floral leaves toothed; and I have found a remarkable variety
of the pratense upon the high mountains of Ireland, where it had before been noticed by ir m g ,
haT h! Smdl-floweied CoiTwhea^blossoms in July and August, and the specimens her* delp ^ ‘ed were COmmU'
nirated with many other alpine rarities, from Middleton in Teesdale, by the Rev. James Dalton. .
L t a n J s ha™ marked, 11 course of his Lapland Tour, that he found reason to observe the butter obtained
from the cows which pastured where this plant abounded, to be of a deep saffron, or almost red, hue,
148