LAEIAT7E. ;i71 MENTHA. 



O. BASI LICUM. — Leaves smooth, ovate-oblong, subdentate, petiolale j 

 calyx ciliate. An exotic from Persia, cultivated. Plant about a foot high, 

 with peculiarly smooth and soft leaves variously colored, exhaling a delight- 

 ful odor. Stern retrorsely pubescent above, branched. Flowers white, in 

 simple, terminal racemes. JL, Aug. Ann. Royal Ocimuin. or Siccct Basil. 



2. LAVA'NDULA. 



Calyx ovoid-cjlindrie. with 5 short teeth, the upper one 

 often largest; corolla upper lip2-Iobed, lower 3-lobed ; tube 

 exserted ; stamens included. 



Lat. lavarc, to wash. The use of the distilled water of this plant is well 

 known. Cor. lobes nearly equal. Fil. smooth, not toothed. Disk concave 



with 4 fleshy scales on the margin. 



L. SPIC.X. — Leaves linear-oblanceolate, tapering to the base, sessile, 

 revolute at the edge, the upper ones linear-lanceolate, the highest shorter than 

 the calyx ; spike interrupted; bracts subulate. Plant 12 — 18 inches high, 

 sufFruticose, branching from the base. Leaves crowded at the base of the 

 branches, clothed with a whitish down. Calyx villose. Corolla much 

 exserted and of a lilac color. The plant is well known as an aromatic of a 

 delightful fragrance. It is stimulant and tonic, and the oil extracted by 

 distillation enters into many compositions in medicine. Cultivated in gar- 

 dens. July. Per. Lavender. 



Tribe 2. MENTHOIDEA. 



Corolla somewhat campantdate or funnel-form ; tube scarcely exserted, limb subequalli/ 4 — 5-lobecl. 

 atamens 4, somethnes 2, distant, straight, diverging. 



3 . MENTHA. 



Corolla nearly regular, 4-cleft, the broadest segment emar- 



ginate ; stamens 4, straight, distant. 



The old Greek name, from Mintha, the fabulous daughter of Cocytus,once 

 transformed into the jilant which bears her name. Cal. tubular, regular, 

 5-toollied. Cor. straight, funnel-shaped, a little longer than cal., upper lobe 

 broadest, notched. Fil. naked. Anth. 2-lobed, with 2 parallel cells. Stig. 

 divided into 2 acute, spreading seg. Ach. 4. 



1. M. CaNADE'NSIS. Bcnth. M. borealis. J»/x. 

 Ascending, pubescent; /fa?!cs petiolate, lanceolate, serrate, acute at each 



end ; Jloiccrs in axillary cymes; stamens generaWy exserted. An herbaceous, 

 grayish plant, 1 — 2 feet high, growing in muddy situations. The stem is 

 square and usually branched, the angles beset with reversed hairs. Leaves 

 serrate, on opposite, downy footstalks, and punctate with resinous dots at 

 each end. Flowers apparently in whorls, pale purple, usually distinuuished 

 by the projecting stamens which are sometimes twice as long as the corollas. 

 Calyx liairy. Aiomatic like the other species. Jn., Jl. Per. Uorsemint. 

 /3. (M. Canadensis. L.) stamens equalling the corolla. 



2. M. VIRIDIS. 



Leaves subsessile, oblong-lanceolate, acute, incisely serrate ; bracts setaceous, 

 and. with the teeth of the calyx, somewhat hairy ; spikes slender, interrupted, 

 attenuate above. A well known plant, highly esteemed for its agreeable 

 aromatic properties. It grows in wet soils, rapidly spreading by its creeping 

 roots, with erect, branching, 4-angled stalks, 1 — 2 feet high. The spikes are 



