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Small Cow-Wheat

Small Cow-Wheat

Melampyrum sylvaticum

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How common: Common

Small Cow‑wheat is a small, one‑year woodland plant that also taps the roots of nearby plants for food. It grows in fresh, fairly moist forests, thickets, meadows and along paths and roads. Its tiny, deep yellow flowers sit in pairs along the stem.

Did you know?

  • It both makes its own food and also taps nutrients and water from neighbouring plants’ roots.
  • Its flowers sit in pairs and all face to one side of the stem.

About the species

Identification

A small one‑year plant 10–30 cm tall with a slender, usually little‑branched stem. Leaves are narrow and arranged in pairs on the stem. The small leaf‑like parts just below the flowers are also narrow, green and usually with smooth edges. Flowers grow where these small parts meet the stem, spaced in pairs and all leaning to one side. Each flower is tiny (about 7–9 mm), deep butter‑yellow, with a hood‑like top part and a three‑lobed lower part that points down; the base is very short and the mouth open. Seed cases are oval and about as long as the green outer parts. Darker yellow than Heath Cow‑wheat, whose bracts are often toothed and purple‑tinged. Flowers in Finland from June to August.

Plant group

Herbaceous plants

Habitat

heath forest

Flowering

Jun–Aug

About the habitat

Found in fresh, fairly moist conifer or mixed forests, brushy places, meadows, and along paths and road verges; often prefers slightly moister sites than Heath Cow‑wheat. Common across Finland except in northernmost Lapland, where it is rare.

Sources

Photo: Michal Honskus, CC BY 4.0 https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6334855859

Text: Pinkka: BIO-503 Suomen kasvisto ja kasvillisuus - Metsät: tuoreet kankaat, CC BY 4.0 https://laji.fi/taxon/MX.39632

Text: Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mets%C3%A4maitikka

See also