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Linnaea borealis L.

Twin-flower

Modern name

Linnaea borealis L.

A creeping evergreen plant, a few inches high with a woody base; branches long, slender, wire-like, hairy when young. Leaves opposite, obovate, oval or ovate; 14 to 34 in. long, 18 to 12 in. wide, rounded or broadly tapered and coarsely toothed at the apex, wedge-shaped and entire at the base with scattered hairs on the margin, upper surface, and on the midrib below; stalk 112 to 16 in. long. Flowers produced in summer, in a pair at the top of an erect, threadlike stalk, 112 to 3 in. high, terminating short, erect, lateral twigs; each flower has its own secondary stalk 12 to 34 in. long. Corolla pink or white, 12 in. long, nodding, funnel-shaped, with five rounded lobes, hairy inside; calyx with five linear lobes; stamens four; ovary hairy. Fruits dry, yellow, one-seeded, downy.

This little plant is found in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere including a few places in the north-east of Britain. It is a dainty plant with pretty, fragrant flowers, best adapted for some shady moist spot in the rock garden in rather sandy soil. It is naturalised under pines and bracken at the Sunningdale Nurseries, Berks. Plants of North American origin are the easiest to grow in this country.


Genus

Linnaea

Other species in the genus

[No species article available]