Scientific name: Melampyrum pratense L.
Common name: Common Cow-wheat
Description
Habit: A hemiparasitic annual, to 50 cm high.
Stems: Erect, branched, thin, wiry and hairless.
Leaves: Opposite, undivided, without stipules, stalkless or very short-stalked, oval to lanceolate, with pointed tip; upper leaves sometimes with teeth near the base of leaf.
Flowers: Yellow, zygomorphic, hermaphrodite, 12-18 mm long, solitary or forming very loose, one-sided spikes; calyx of 4 sepals fused, with 4 lobes; corolla of 4-5 petals fused into 2-lips, lower lip with 3 lobes; stamens 4, borne on corolla tube; ovary superior, 2-celled, style 1.
Fruits: A capsule, smooth, with 4 seeds.
Habitat: Woods, stony lake-shores, limestone pavement, blanket-bog.Distribution: Rather rare.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No