Wild Flowers Of Strathclyde Park
  
 

Red Bartsia
Odontites verna
of the Figwort family
an annual
25-50 cm high
blooms July-October
likes grassy places, roadsides
can be seen on the grassy verges on the pathway between the pond and the South Beach

   
Named after a Dr Bartoch, a friend of the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus, this modest looking plant was once considered a cure for toothache. This is the derivation for its scientific name (odons is the greek for tooth). It's a bit of a parasite since it takes water and minerals from the roots of its neighbouring plant