178 PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



it is raised from the seed, cats are said not to touch it, while they 

 work at that which is transplanted and larger. Loudon. It is 

 still used in decoction as a popular medicinal drink. An exotic 

 from Britain. It is one of the plants that follows man wherever 

 he settles. 



Leonurus. L. 13. 1. 



From the Greek for lion and tail, as its spikes of flowers have 

 some resemblance to the bushy tail of that animal ; a genus of 7 

 species in the Northern and Middle parts of Asia. 



L. cardiaca. L. Mother Wort. A well-known plant about 

 houses and gardens ; celebrated formerly for its high medicinal 

 character, and still considerably used as a popular drink for the 

 relief of colds and affections of the chest. A fine looking plant, 

 with handsome flowers, and beautiful 3-lobed leaves ; introduced 

 into Europe from Tartary, and thence into America, and now 

 naturalized over a great extent of the earth ; another plant that 

 follows closely after man in his migrations. 



Clinopodium. L. 13. 1. 



From the Greek for bed and foot, as the cluster of flowers has 

 some resemblance to the caster of a bed's foot ; not a large 

 genus ; belonging to the eastern continent chiefly. 



C. vulgare. L. Wild Basil. Field Thyme. Found in 

 rocky woods, and doubtless indigenous to this country ; a foot or 

 more high, with purple or reddish flowers in dense hairy whorls, 

 with hairy leaves ; aromatic ; July. 



Lamium. L. 13. 1. 



As its flowers have a rude resemblance to some beast, the plant 

 is named after Lamia, a monster of the sea ; a small genus, chief- 

 ly in Europe. 



L. amplexicaule. L. Dead Nettle. Hen-bit. A small slen- 

 der plant, in gardens and roadsides, with small rose-colored 

 flowers, and stem half a foot or more high ; floral leaves broadly- 

 cordate ; May to September. 



