Dr Graham's Description of' New or Rare Plants. 393 



I have not any where seen a detailed description of this plant, and the 

 form of the leaves, as stated in the specific character in the Botanical 

 Magazine, does not agree with our plant, or with the figure given. 

 The figure is very characteristic, and was taken from a plant procured 

 from St Christopher's in the West Indies. Our plant was received from 

 Mr Harris of llio de Janeiro by Captain Graham of his Miyesty*8 Pac- 

 ket Service in 182G, and it has always been kept in the stove. 



Mentha.? pumila. 



M. ? pumila ; caule erecto ; calyce 4-fido, ovato ; corolla 4-fida, subre- 

 gulari (clausa ?) ; filamentis subexsertis, nilis articulatis medio cinc- 

 tis ; foliis verticillatis, quatemis, obovato-lanceolatis, serratis. 



Description. — Annual Stem upright, simple, 2 or 3 inches high in our 

 specimens, which are probably small, from having been crowcfed in the 

 seed-pot, and flowering in December. Leaves crowded, verticelled, 4 in 

 each whorl, obovato-lanceolate, sparingly and distantly serrated towards 

 the apex, in our specimens generally only one serrature on each side, 

 frequently two, very rarely three, spreading, veinless, flat, slightly 

 channelled, and having very minute, reflected, adpressed* pubescence 

 above, keeled, and sprinkled with minute glandular dots below. Inflo- 

 rescence a terminal capitate spike. Bractea, one at the base of each 

 flower, obovato-lanceolate, hairy, and strongly ciliated, concave, conni- 

 vent at the points, and as long as the calyx. Cal^x ovate, inflated, 

 4-cleft, segments equal, hairy, connivent, pointed. Corolla^ 4-toothed, 

 very near^ regular, hairy, ovate (closed ?), longer than the calyx, pink. 

 Stamens 4, subexssrted, filaments nearly equal, connivent ; anthers like 

 rounded, swollen terminations to the filaments, brown, bursting in a line 

 across their extremities; filaments having in their middie a whorl of hairs, 

 appearing through a high magnifying power, like strings of round beads. 

 Pistil single ; style filiform, exserted ; stigma cleft, segments large and 

 revolute ; germen 4-lobed, imbedded in the base of the corolla. 



The seeds of this plant were obtained from Nepaul by Captain Macgill, 

 and obligingly communicated to us in 1827. The seedlings were kept 

 in the stove, and never transplanted. Unfortunately the whole damped 

 otF during December and January, as well those which did not flower 

 as those which did. 



1 am far from satisfied about the generic name of this plant. Dr Hooker, 

 who kindly sent to me a MS. volume of Flora Indica, pointed out its 

 close resemblance in habit to Columnea heterophylla^ and also to Mentha 

 verticillata^ and he thinks it scarcely differs from M. vertxctUata of Don*s 

 Prodromus Flor. Nepal., except in size. From Columnea it is of 

 course distinguished by being gymnospermous. My difficulty about the 

 genus arises from the calyx and corolla being, if not absolutely, at least 

 very nearly regular ; from my not having observed a notch in'the lower 

 segment of the former ; from the latter being closed, the four segments 

 connivent at the apex ; and especially /rom the structure'of the anthers, 

 so very singular, if my examination of them was correct, which I have no 

 reason to doubt. Dr Hooker, however, feels sure of its being as good a 

 Mentha as any of the verticelled species ; and in deference to that acute 

 observer I leave it in this genus. I cannot, however, think it is either the 

 M. vertidllata of his MS. volume or of Don, which differ from each other. 

 It differs from the first in the form of the leaves, and in the pubescence 

 of the filaments being confined to a whorl, and from both by having 

 uniformly fSur leaves in a whorl. I cannot think this last arises from 

 the specimens being smaller than natural, because we had many plants, 

 though all did not flower, and there was not one exception to this struc- 

 ture. 



Primula vcrticillata. 



P. vertidllata; foliis glabris, erectis, spathulato-rhomboideis, rugosis, per 

 petiolos longos decurrentibus, inciso-biserratis, acutis, subtus fari- 

 nosis ; floribus verticillatis, tubo corollae pedicellum ce<iuanli, laciniis 

 crenulatis (vel iiitegris ?); involucris foliaceis, pentaphyllis, pedicelio 

 longioribus. 



