Common name:
Common toothwort
Family:
Scientific name:
Lathraea squamaria
Main flower color:
Range:
England, Wales, Ireland and south Scotland
Height:
Up to 30 cm
Habitat:
Woodland, on rich, often calcareous soils
Flowers:
Up to 18 mm long, with a pinkish-white corolla and a slightly shorter calyx covered, as is the stem, by glandular hairs. Flowers form a closely-spaced, one-sided cluster along the upper two thirds of the stem, separated by the scale-like bracts. This is a parasitic species, lacking chlorophyll
Fruit:
Whitish capsules
Leaves:
None; stem has only a few small, alternate, creamy-white, scale-like bracts
Season:
April to May
Rarity:
★★★★★
