Genus 27. 



MINT FAMILY. 



37 



27. MELISSA [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 592. 1753. 



Leafy branching herbs, with broad dentate leaves, and rather small white or yellowish 

 axillary clustered somewhat secund flowers. Calyx oblong-campanulate, deflexed in fruit, 

 13-nerved, nearly naked in the throat, 2-lipped; upper lip flat, 3-toothed, the lower 2-parted. 

 Corolla exserted, its tube curved-ascending, enlarged above, naked within, the limb 2-lipped ; 

 upper lip erect, emarginate ; lower lip 3-cleft, spreading. Stamens 4, didynamous, connivent 

 and ascending under the upper lip of the corolla; anthers 2-celled, their sacs divaricate. 

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

 [Greek, bee.] 



About 4 species, natives of Europe and western 

 Asia, the following typical. 



Melissa officinalis L. 

 Balm. Bee-balm. 



Garden or Lemon 

 Fig. 3650. 



Melissa officinalis L. Sp. PI. 592. 1753. 



Perennial, pubescent; stem rather stout, erect 

 or ascending, i-22 high. Leaves ovate, petioled, 

 mostly obtuse at both ends, sometimes cordate, 

 pinnately veined, coarsely dentate or crenate- 

 dentate, r'-aj' long; flowers several in the axil- 

 lary clusters; pedicels shorter than the calyx; 

 calyx about 3" long, the teeth of its lower lip 

 slightly exceeding those of the upper; corolla 

 white, 5 "-7" long. 



In waste places, thickets and woods, Maine to 

 Georgia, West Virginia, Missouri and Arkansas, 

 also in Oregon and California. Naturalized from 

 Europe. Plant lemon-scented. Balm-leaf or -mint. 

 Honey-plant. Pimentary. Goose-tongue. Dropsy- 

 plant. Lemon-lobelia. Sweet-mary. June-Aug. 



28. SATUREIA [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 567. 1753. 



Herbs or shrubs, with small entire leaves, sometimes with smaller ones fascicled in their 

 axils, and bracted purple flowers in dense terminal or axillary clusters. Calyx campanulate, 

 mostly 10-nerved, 5-toothed, naked or rarely villous in the throat. Corolla-limb 2-lipped, the 

 upper lip erect, flat, entire or emarginate, the lower spreading, 3-cleft. Stamens 4, connivent 

 under the upper lip of the corolla ; anthers 2-celled, the sacs parallel or divaricate. Ovary 

 deeply 4-parted; style 2-cleft at the summit. Nutlets oblong or oval. [The classical Latin 

 name of the plant.] 



About 18 species, the following typical one intro- 

 duced as a garden herb from Europe, one of doubt- 

 ful affinity in Florida, the others of the Mediterra- 

 nean region. 



i. Satureia hortensis L. Savory. Sum- 

 mer Savory. Fig. 3651. 



Satureia hortensis L. Sp. PI. 568. 1753. 



Annual, puberulent ; stems erect, slender, much 

 branched, 6'-i8' high. Leaves linear or linear- 

 oblong, short-petioled, entire, acute at both ends, 

 i'-iA' long, i"-2" wide; clusters 3"-S" in diam- 

 eter, terminal and in many of the upper axils; 

 bracts linear, small, minute, or wanting; calyx 

 about equalling the corolla-tube, somewhat pu- 

 bescent, its teeth subulate, about as long as the 

 tube, ciliate ; corolla little longer than the calyx ; 

 stamens scarcely exserted. 



In waste places, New Brunswick and Ontario to 

 Kentucky, west to Nevada. Naturalized or ad- 

 ventive from Europe. July-Sept. 



