Melampyrum arvense - Field Cow-wheat - (Scrophulariaceae)

This lovely flower is found in grassland and is semi-parasitic on other plants. It is now very rare in the UK.

Melampyrum arvense

Common cow-wheat, Melampyrum pratense, may have a rather boring little flower, but don't write off this genus as it contains some amazingly beautiful wildflowers. One such, which is found in just four locations in southern England (the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Wiltshire and Bedfordshire) - is field cow-wheat, Melampyrum arvense. It is a chalk and limestone loving plant. There are plenty of these lovely cow-wheats in parts of France, and indeed their distribution still covers much of mainland Europe.

The specimen shown above was photographed in France on a motorway verge along with hundreds of others.