328 



LAMIACEAE. 



9. CLINOPODIUM L. 



Herbs, or low shrubs, with entire or sparingly dentate leaves, and rather 

 large flowers variously clustered. Calyx mostly gibbous at the base, about 13- 

 nerved, 2-lipped, the upper lip 3-toothed, the lower 2-cleft. Corolla usually 

 expanded at the throat, the tube straight, the limb 2-lipped; upper lip erect, 

 entire or emarginate; lower lip spreading, 3-cleft. Stamens somewhat con- 

 nivent in pairs, the longer mostly exserted; anthers 2-celled, the sacs divergent 

 or divaricate. Nutlets ovoid, smooth. [Greek, bed-foot, the flowers likened 

 to a bed-caster.] About 60 species, of the north temperate zone. Type 

 species: Clinopodium vulgare L. 



1. Clinopodium Calamintha (L.) Kuntze. 

 CALAMINT. CALAMINT BALM. (Pig. 353.) Per- 

 ennial by creeping rootstocks, l-3 high. Leaves 

 broadly ovate, petioled, obtuse at both ends or 

 subaeute at the apex, dentate or crenate-dentate, 

 i'-2' long and nearly as wide; inflorescence pa- 

 niculate, commonly leafy; calyx villous in the 

 throat, 2"-3" long; corolla purplish, 6"-7" long. 

 [Melissa Calamintha L.] 



Common in waste grounds. Naturalized. Native 

 of Europe. Flowers in summer and autumn. Com- 

 monly called Catnep and one of the abundant natural- 

 ized plants. 



10. MENTHA [Tourn.] L. 



Odorous herbs, with simple mostly punctate leaves, and small whorled 

 purple pink or white flowers, the whorls axillary or in terminal spikes. Calyx 

 10-nerved, regular, or slightly 2-lipped, 5-toothed. Corolla-tube shorter than 

 the calyx, the limb 4-cleft, the posterior lobe usually somewhat broader than 

 the others, entire or emarginate. Stamens 4, equal, erect, included or ex- 

 serted, sometimes imperfect; filaments glabrous; anthers 2-celled, the sacs 

 parallel. Nutlets ovoid, smooth. [Name used by Theophrastus; from the 

 nymph Minthe.] About 30 species, of the north temperate zone. Type 

 species: Mentha spicata L. All the following mints grow luxuriantly in 

 Bermuda. 



