The genus name Lathraea derives from the ancient greekλαθραῖος (lathraîos), meaning "clandestine",[1] which is a reference to the fact that it is inconspicuous until it flowers.[2]
The cladogram has been reconstructed from nuclear and plastid DNA molecular characters (ITS, rps16 intron and trnK region).[3][4]
Species
Common toothwort. Illustration from Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz, 1885
Common toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) is parasitic on the roots of hazel and alder, occasionally on beech, in shady places such as hedge sides. Lathraea squamaria is widespread in Europe. The common toothwort is a protocarnivorous plant. Most of the plant consists of a branched whitish underground stem closely covered with thick fleshy colourless leaves, which are bent over so as to hide the under surface; irregular cavities communicating with the exterior are formed in the thickness of the leaf. On the inner walls of these chambers are stalked hairs, which when stimulated by the touch of an insect send out delicate filaments by means of which the insect is killed and digested.[5][6]
Purple toothwort (Lathraea clandestina) grows on the roots mainly of alder, poplar and willow. At Arduaine Garden in Argyll in the absence of the three well-known hosts it grows on the roots of a variety of ornamental trees and shrubs; in the same garden cats are frequently seen to roll in the flowers and to eat them.[7] It differs from common toothwort in the dark purple flowers being produced one on each stem. Purple toothwort grows in Middle and South Europe: Western Belgium, Western and Central France and Northern Spain, and locally in Central Italy.[8] Elsewhere, especially in the British Isles, the plant is locally naturalized in parks and old gardens and along river banks.[9]
In Pavel Ivanovich Melnikov's "In the Forests" a Russian wise woman (znakharka) calls this plant[which?] Peter's Cross and says it protects against devils but only if collected with a prayer to God.
^ abTěšitel, Jakub; Říha, Pavel; Svobodová, Šárka; Malinová, Tamara; Štech, Milan (2010-10-28). "Phylogeny, Life History Evolution and Biogeography of the Rhinanthoid Orobanchaceae". Folia Geobotanica. 45 (4): 347–367. Bibcode:2010FolGe..45..347T. doi:10.1007/s12224-010-9089-y. ISSN1211-9520.
^ abScheunert, Agnes; Fleischmann, Andreas; Olano-Marín, Catalina; Bräuchler, Christian; Heubl, Günther (2012-12-14). "Phylogeny of tribe Rhinantheae (Orobanchaceae) with a focus on biogeography, cytology and re-examination of generic concepts". Taxon. 61 (6): 1269–1285. doi:10.1002/tax.616008.
