122 THE AMKRICAN BOTANIST 



mint" may refer to its inferior qualities while "field thyme" 

 and "horse thyme" are doubtless names to distinguish it from 

 the true thyme {T/iyinus serpyllum). Satureia nepeta is 

 the "l)asil thyme", "field balm" and "calaminth" or "calamint". 

 This last term is derived from still another generic name cal- 

 amintha which some of the species have borne in bygone days. 

 It means "beautiful mint". Satureia aciiws is another "basil" 

 or "l)asil balm" and also "mother of thyme," and "polly moun- 

 tain" applied to the true thyme is a distortion or reference to 

 pennyroyal. .Satureia hortensis is the "suinmer savory" of 

 our gardens whose aromatic leaves are much used for flavor- 

 ing soups and dressings. 



The name of "mountain mint" applied to Monarda 

 didyuHi suggests a confusion of this plant with Pycnanthernuni 

 Jlrginiaiuiiii. When in leaf, only, the two species are, indeed, 

 ver\- mucli alike, but in flower no one could mistake them. 

 MoiHirda may often be found in elevated places, especially if 

 wet. but the present species is so plentifully distributed in 

 rough country as to be fairly entitled to be considered the true 

 mountain mint. The looseness witli which identical terms 

 are applied to a number of plants when there is only a passing 

 resemblance between them is seen in the present instance 

 when our plant is also called "basil", "pennyroyal", "mountain 

 thyme", and "prairie hyssop." These names are of course, 

 explained in their proper places. 



In dry and elevated regions a strong and pungent odor 

 often apprises one of the presence of Hedeoma pulegioides 

 commonly known as "pennyroyal". Though so familiar to 

 us by this name, it has really usurped the cognomen of a Eu- 

 ropean species (Mentha pidegium) regarded as the true 

 pennyroyal. The specific name seems to have been derived 



