Scientific name: Lathraea squamaria L.
Common name: Toothwort
Description
Habit: A parasitic perennial, to 30 cm high, without any green colour.
Stems and leaves: Underground rhizome covered with white, fleshy and scale-like leaves; flowering stem erect and above ground, with pale lilac or white fleshy alternate leaves.
Flowers: Pale lilac, zygomorphic, hermaphrodite, 12-15 mm long, in a dense, one-sided raceme; calyx of 4-5 fused sepals, with 4 broad and hairy lobes; corolla of 4 petals fused into 2-lips, upper lip undivided, lower 3-lobed; stamens 4, borne on corolla tube; ovary superior, 2-celled, style 1.
Fruits: A capsule with numerous seeds.
Habitat: Woods.Distribution: Very rare.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No