''Melampyrum pratense'', the common cow-wheat, is a plant species in the family

Orobanchaceae Orobanchaceae, the broomrapes, is a family of mostly parasitic plants of the order Lamiales, with about 90 genera and more than 2000 species. Many of these genera (e.g., ''Pedicularis'', ''Rhinanthus'', ''Striga'') were formerly included in the ...

. The seed of the plant has an

elaiosome Elaiosomes ( grc, ἔλαιον ''élaion'' "oil" + ''sóma'' "body") are fleshy structures that are attached to the seeds of many plant species. The elaiosome is rich in lipids and proteins, and may be variously shaped. Many plants have elaio ...

, which is attractive to

wood ants Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin tha ...

(''Formica'' spp.). The ants disperse the seeds of the plant when they take them back to their nests to feed their young. The plant is an

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

indicator, as the ants rarely carry the seeds more than a few yards, seldom crossing a field to go to a new woodland. The Latin

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''pratense'' means "of meadows". ''Melampyrum pratense'' is a food plant of the

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s of the

heath fritillary The heath fritillary (''Melitaea athalia'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found throughout the Palaearctic from western Europe to Japan, in heathland, grassland, and in coppiced woodland. Its association with coppiced woodland ...

(''Melitaea athalia''), a butterfly.Heath Fritillary (''Melitaea athalia'').
UK Butterflies. Accessed 22 June 2013. ''Melampyrum pratense'' herb has been used in traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea or externally as pillow filling for treatment of rheumatism and blood vessels calcification. ''Melampyrum pratense'' can be parasitized by the oomycete species ''

Peronospora tranzschelinana ''Peronospora'' is a genus of oomycetes that are obligate plant pathogens of many eudicots. Most species in this group produce a downy mildew disease, which can cause severe damage to many different cultivated crops, as well as wild and ornamenta ...

''.

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Orobanchaceae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Orobanchaceae-stub

See also

References

External links