IHH AM1;R1CAN BOIANIST 119 



W htii once a niis-spelk-d word becomes current, however, 

 changing' it becomes a weighty matter. Such are the ways of 

 botanists. 



The rt)semary genus, Rosmarinus may be mentioned here 

 to point out another error into which phint students sometimes 



fall. This plant, though called rosemary, has nothing to do 

 with the X'irgin. It is really ros, dew and inariniis, the sea. 

 In the labiates, also is found the genus Betonica, probably the 

 original of that word "betony" which is often applied to var- 

 ious other plants of different affiliations. Calamintha is lit- 

 trali}- "beautiful mint" and Origanum is "mountain joy" 

 or "mountain ornament." Clinopodium, formerly u>cd for 

 some of the [)lants now placed in the genus Satureia, is Greek 

 "bed-foot" l)ecause the flowers are like a bed-caster. It is 

 possible that the plant which origininally bore the name liad 

 some resemblance to the article mentioned but it is difficult to 

 see any resemblance to it in our species. 



Although the entire group of labiates are commonly cal- 

 led "mints" only a few of them are mints in the sense of 

 belonging to the genus Mentha. Most of the other members 

 of the family, however, are so pervaded by the warm aro- 

 matic mint-like flavor that it is most natural to regard them 

 as mints, also. The most distinguished of all the true mints 

 is probably Mentha spicata, a rather insignificant plant as ap- 

 pearances go, but one that is celebrated in song and story as an 

 all-important accomj)animent of roast lamb and as an indispen- 

 sable ingredient in a beverage which only a Constitutional 

 amendment could banish from ])ublic life. Now, falling on 

 more prosaic days, its principal use in in flavoring chewing- 

 gum. As an ingredient in mint-sauce, it has acquired such 

 names as "lamb's mint", "garden mint", "mackerel mint", 



