28 



HA R D WICKE ' S S CIE JVC E- GO SSI P. 



will find how pleasant are the paths along which you 

 wander ; how full of peace are all your hours thus spent. 



Some people might consider it rather a leap from 

 Arum maculatum to Nepeta glechoma, and, indeed, 

 from one point of view at least, it is. 



The idea will occur of their being types of pride 

 and humility. The haughty stateliness and refined 

 beauty of the spadix of Arum maculatum — Pride. 

 The gentle, retiring lowliness of the, in reality, far 

 more beautiful Nepela glechoma — Humility. 



The natural order, Labiatas, to which this plant 

 belongs, possesses several very striking features, which 

 should give the botanical rambler little difficulty in 

 determining plants of the order. Nepeta glechoma is 

 a good lesson in itself, furnishing as it does many, if 

 not all, of the distinctive features of the Labiatae. 

 As we pursue our study we shall see this in stem, 



On examining the stem, which is slender, its shape 

 must be well noted, for here is the first characteristic 

 of the order. The stem is tetragonal (Fig. 21), and 

 covered with hairs ; the whole plant is pubescent. 



These hairs are generally very interesting, afford- 

 ing as they do good specimens of multicellular hairs 

 (Fig. 18). 



These should be mounted either separately, or with 

 the epidermis of stem or leaf. The stem will be 

 easiest to manipulate for the epidermis. It is best 

 to mount in glycerine jelly. Sections should be taken 

 both transverse and longitudinal through the stem, 

 and arrangement of cells and vessels well noted. 

 The petioles of the leaves are long ; in many 

 cases considerably longer than one would expect, 

 being from one-half to two inches in length. The 

 colouring matter in cells at the base of many of the 



Fig. 17. — Lower portion of Nepeta glechoma (after Lind- 

 ley). a, Roots produced from under side of stem ; 

 b, flowers of the Verticillaster. 



Fig. 18. — Multicellular hairs in various stages of growth from 

 epidermis of stem (mag.). 



leaves, and flower. Remember, first of all, that the 

 plants of this order have no deleterious qualities. 



A r epeta glechoma loves to dwell beneath a hedge, 

 and retires in modesty, hidden as much as possible 

 by anything that might afford a shelter. The plant 

 is usually procumbent, but not always much so. As 

 it roots from the under side of its stem (Fig. 17), 

 some part of course lies on the ground. If on a 

 hank, its procumbent nature is far more noticeable 

 than when growing on level ground. The plant 

 loves the warmth of the sun, and flourishes best on 

 sunny banks that are not too dry. 



The root fibres are very interesting when examined 

 under the microscope, and with care the root cap 

 might be made out. The minute root hairs are, too, 

 of interest. A little carmine solution will greatly 

 assist in bringing out the parts in this investigation. 



hairs should be noted ; these help to give various 

 parts of the plant that purple tint which it assumes 

 later on in the year. 



The shape of the lamina is reniform, the upper 

 ones somewhat cordate, deeply crenate green. Some 

 difficulty will be found in obtaining the epidermis of 

 the leaf, but it should be obtained. The stomata are 

 few and small, chiefly on the under surface. The 

 important point, however, is to note the oil recep 

 tacles (Fig. 20). These are the second important 

 characteristic of most plants of the order. A leaf or 

 two, if boiled for a short time in diluted nitric acid, 

 will be found to separate its epidermis with freedom. 

 A slide should be mounted showing these oil reser- 

 voirs. 



The vessels making up the venation of the leaf 

 may be easily dissected by the above process ; and if 



