SCUTELLARIA WRIGHTII. 



WRIGHT'S SKULLCAP. 



NATURAL ORDER, LABIAT.E. (LamiacE/E of Lindlev.) 



Sci'TELLARlA Wrightii, Asa Gray. — Neither stoloniferous nor tuberous, sending up many 

 stems from a perennial woody root, about half a foot high, minutely pubescent; leaves 

 ovate and spathulatcly oblong, quite entire, subscssilc; corolla downy-pubescent, violet, 

 six to seven lines long, enlarging considerably upwards, lips of about equal length; nut- 

 lets small, minutely granulated. (Gray, in Proceedings of tlie American Acadeniy of Arts 

 and Sciences, Vol. VIII, 1S72, p. 376.) 



HE natural order of Labiaia wixs, so named from the two- 

 lipped, or labiate, corollas which are found in the flowers 

 of most of the species belonging to it. The name, however, is 

 not expressive in all cases, as not all Labiaice have lips, and as 

 labiate flowers are also found in other orders. Prof. Lindley's 

 name, Lamiaccce, which he gave to the order from the genus 

 Lamiuni, or " Dead Nettles," as they are called in England, 

 would therefore seem to be the more appropriate of the two. 

 The order is one of the most interestinor in the whole vesretable 

 kingdom, not only from the peculiar structure of the flowers, and 

 from its relationship to other orders, but also from the immense 

 number of its representatives in all parts of the world. It has 

 been estimated that ia the United States one in every forty of 

 the whole number of species comprised in the phcenogamic flora 

 is a Labiate. Mints, sages, thyme, horehound, savory, catmint, 

 j^ennyroyal, and many other well-known plants belong to the 

 order. The peculiar aromatic odor for which the herbs just 

 named are noted, is produced by an oil contained in vesicles 

 which are open at the ape.\, so that the odor can escape freely 

 through the orifice. In other plants the oil is imbedded in the 



