Images: ©Jouko Lehmuskallio
Toothwort
Lathraea squamaria
- Family: Figwort Family – Scrophulariaceae
- Height: 10–20 cm (4–8 in.)
- Flower: Irregular (zygomorphic), 14–17 mm (ca. 0.50–0.7 in) long, nodding. Corolla bilabiate, lilac-pink with a white lower lip. Sepals four, united, lilac-pink, calyx bell-shaped. Stamens four. Pistil of four fused carpels. Inflorescence a dense, one-sided, spike-like terminal raceme.
- Leaves: Alternate. Scale-like, rounded-heart-shaped.
- Fruit: An almost globose capsule, ca. 10 mm (0.4 in.) long.
- Habitat: Broadleaf forests, hazel woods. On calcareous sites.
- Flowering time: May.
The toothwort is a perennial, fleshy, non-chlorophyllous parasite. Its roots posses so called haustoria, e.g. specialized roots with which the plant can attach itself to the roots of a host plant, generally a hazel shrub. Other possible hosts are, for instance, Norway spruce, aspen, apples, and alders.
In the spring the rootstock of the toothwort produces pinkish aerial shoots from which the flowers arise. The seeds ripen and fall off quickly. The aerial shoot withers already in the middle of the summer. Most of the time the toothwort lives hidden under the ground surface. It doesn’t necessarily produce an aerial shoot as it may even flower and produce seeds underground. In Finland, the toothwort is a regionally endangered, and protected species.
