Genus 9. 



MINT FAMILY. 



1. Meehania cordata (Nutt.) Britton. 

 Meehania. Fig. 3593. 



Dracoceplialuin cordatiim Nutt. Gen. 2: 35. 1818. 

 Cedronella cordata Benth. Lab. 502. 1834. 

 Meehania cordata Britton, Bull. Torn Club 21 : a. 



pi. 173. 1894. 



Flowering stems ascending, 3'S' high; stolons 

 very slender, leafy throughout, sometimes 2 

 long. Leaves all broadly ovate or ovate-orbicu- 

 lar, thin, obtuse or subacute at the apex, crenate 

 all around, cordate at the base, sparingly pubes- 

 cent with scattered hairs on both surfaces, or 

 nearly glabrous beneath, green on both sides, 

 1-2' long, the basal sinus broad; spikes 1-4' 

 long ; bracts ovate or oblong, acute, membranous, 

 the lower sometimes crenulate and surpassing 

 the calyx ; bractlets small, lanceolate ; calyx about 

 5" long, puberulent, its longer teeth about one- 

 half the length of the tube; corolla l'-li' long, 

 showy. 



In rich moist woods and thickets, southwestern 

 Pennsylvania to Illinois, Tennessee and North 

 Carolina. May-July. 



10. NEPETA [Rivin.] L. Sp. PI. 570. 1753. 



Herbs, with dentate or incised leaves, and mostly white or blue rather small flowers in 

 verticillate clusters, usually crowded in terminal spikes, or axillary and cymose. Calyx tubu- 

 lar, somewhat oblique at the mouth, 15-nerved, usually incurved, 5-toothed, scarcely 2-lipped, 

 but the upper teeth usually longer than the lower. Corolla-tube enlarged above, the limb 

 strongly 2-lipped ; upper lip erect, emarginate or 2-lobed ; lower lip spreading. 3-lobed, the 

 middle lobe larger than the lateral ones. Stamens 4, all anther bearing, didynamous, ascend- 

 ing under the upper lip, the lower pair the shorter; anthers 2-celled, the sacs divaricate. 

 Ovary deeply 4-parted ; style 2-cleft at the summit. Nutlets ovoid, compressed, smooth. 

 [Ancient Latin name of catnep.] 



'About 150 species, natives of Europe and Asia, the following typical. 



i. Nepeta Cataria L. Catmint. Catnep. 

 Nep. Fig. 3594. 



Nepeta Cataria L. Sp. PI. 570. 1 753. 



Perennial, densely canescent, pale green ; stem 

 rather stout, erect, branched, 2-3 high, the 

 branches straight, ascending. Leaves ovate to 

 oblong, petioled, acute at the apex, coarsely cre- 

 nate-dentate. mostly cordate at the base, I -3 

 long, greener above than beneath; flower-clusters 

 spiked at the ends of the stem and branches, the 

 spikes 1-5' long ; bracts small, foliaceous ; bract- 

 lets subulate; calyx puberulent. its teeth subu- 

 late, the upper about one-half the length of the 

 tube ; corolla nearly white, or pale purple, dark- 

 dotted, puberulent without, s"-6" long, its lobe a 

 little longer than the calyx, the broad middle lobe 

 of its lower lip crenulate. 



In waste places, New Brunswick and Quebec to 

 South Dakota, Orepron, South Carolina, Kansas and 

 Utah ; also in Cuba. Naturalized from Europe. 

 Native also of Asia. July-Nov. 



11. GLECOMA L. Sp. PI. 578. 1753. 



Low diffuse creeping herbs, with long-petioled nearly orbicular or reniform crenate 

 leaves, and rather large blue or violet flowers in small axillary verticillate clusters. Calyx 

 oblong-tubular, 15-nerved, oblique at the throat, not 2-lipped, unequally 5-toothed. Corolla- 

 tube exserted, enlarged above, the limb 2-lipped; upper lip erect, 2-lobed or emarginate; the 

 lower lip spreading, 3-lobed, the middle lobe broad, emarginate, the side lobes small. Stamens 

 4, didynamous, all anther-bearing, ascending under the upper lip of the corolla, not exserted, 

 the upper pair the longer ; anther-sacs divergent. Ovary deeply 4-parted. Nutlets ovoid, 

 smooth. [Greek name for thyme or pennyroyal.] 



About 6 species of Europe and Asia, the following typical. 



