Mentha LABI AT AE Elsholtzia 



to Ira.; fls. pink, purplish or white, X-XI. Eurasia, North America; locally in 

 Che., Hup., Ki., Ku. Damp banks and cultivated, condiment. Fig. 325. 

 2. Mentha spicata Linn. Spearmint (B.M.863). Perennial, to 1.3 m.; fls. purplish 

 white, VIII. Eurasia, North America; locally in Ku. Roadsides and cultivated. 



18. Origanum Linn. Marjoram /N^^fM (Hsiao Yeh Po Ho Shu) 

 Erect perennial herbs or subshrubs with rather small entire or dentate lvs. and 

 purplish fls. in dense terminal cymose clusters, subtended by large ovate overlapping 

 bracts; floral whorls in regular racemes; calyx 10-15-nerved, about equally 5-toothed, 

 with hairy throat; corolla slightly 2-lipped; stamens 4, exserted; anther cells diverging: 

 nutlets smooth. About 30 species, in the eastern hemisphere; one in China. (From 

 the Greek terms meaning "a mountain" and "ornament".) 

 1. Origanum vulgare Linn. Wild Marjoram /Jn^^^j (Hsiao Yeh Po Ho; Small- 

 leaved Mentha) (G.M.1245). Perennial, to 5 dm.; fls. purplish, pink or white, VI- 

 VIII. Eurasia; locally in An., Che., Hon., Hun., Hup., Ki., Ku. Grassland. 



19. Thymus Linn. Thyme WM^M (She Hsiang Ts'ao Shu; Musk-herb Genus) 

 Low shrubs, often prostrate, with small entire strongly veined aromatic lvs.: fls. 

 in terminal leafy or leafy-bracted clusters; bracts of the individual fls. very small, 

 subulate; calyx 2-lipped, the lower lip deeply cut into 2 subulate ciliate segments; 

 corolla somewhat 2-lipped; stamens 4; nutlets ovoid or oblong, smooth. About 50 

 species, chiefly of the Mediterranean region; one cultivated in China. (Greek: thyein, 

 to burn perfume, because it was used for incense.) 



1. Thymus serpyllum Linn. Mother- of-thyme (B.M.862). Fine-stemmed creeping 

 shrub; fls. pink or purplish, VII-VIII. Introduced from northern Europe; locally 

 in Ku. Cultivated, condiment. 



20. Dysophylla Blume jK^^MM (Shui Chen Chu Ts'ai Shu; 

 Water Pearl Vegetable Genus) 

 Erect herbs with opposite or verticillate lvs. and very small fls. crowded into dense 

 cylindric terminal "spikes" which are made up of congested cymes; calyx and corolla 

 minute, equally 5-toothed; stamens 4, exserted; filaments long and bearded; style 2- 

 fid: nutlets ovoid or oblong. About 20 species, mostly in eastern Asia; 5 or 10 in 

 China. (Greek: dysodes, foetid, and phyllon, leaf; in reference to the offensive smell 

 of the leaves.) 

 1. Dysophylla verticillata Benth. (H.F. 4: 639). Erect annual, 1-6 dm. high; fls. 

 rose-colored, IX-X. Eastern Asia, Philippines, Australia; locally in Ki., Hun. 

 Swampy ground. 



21. Elsholtzia Willd. fii (Hsiang Ju Shu) 

 Herbs (ours) or subshrubs with thin petiolate opposite ovate or lanceolate lvs. and 

 small fls.; the whorls in dense terminal bracteate one-sided spikes; calyx 10-nerved, 

 with 5 equal teeth, the throat naked; corolla slightly 2-lipped; stamens 4, erect; anther 

 cells diverging: nutlets tuberculate or nearly smooth. About 20 species, in eastern 

 and central Asia; 8 in China. (For J. S. Elsholtz, 1623-1688, German physician and 

 botanist.) 



1. Elsholtzia ciliata (Thunb.) Hylander (E. cristata Willd.; E. patrini (Lepech.) 



341 



