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MINT FAMILY 



dense, cylindric clusters are borne on widely spreading 

 branches several feet from the ground. The species is re- 

 stricted to moderate altitudes and is especially abundant in 

 Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy valleys. 



4. PRUNELLA. Self-heal. Heal-all. 

 1. P. vulgaris L. Stems 4 to 12 in. high, from a perennial 

 base, often pubescent, terminated by a series of leafy-bracted 

 whorls of 6 flowers each. Leaves oblong or ovate, obscurely 

 toothed, 1 to 3 in. long, tapering to a petiole. Corolla pinkish, 

 the tube slightly exserted from the purplish calyx; upper lip 

 erect, beak-like, entire; middle lobe of lower lip pendent. 

 Stamens 4. — Common in low, meadowy places. 



5. SALVIA. Sage. 

 1. S. columbariae Benth. Chia. Annual, 4 to 18 in. high, 

 the flowers in 1 or 2 dense prickly whorls 

 subtended by roundish sharp-tipped bracts. 

 Leaves mostly basal, petioled, much lobed, 

 rough. Corolla blue, little exceeding the 

 prickly-tipped calyx, very irregular. 



Chia is the Spanish name of this 

 plant, which grows on a few warm slopes 

 along our lower limits, reaching the bor- 

 ders of Yosemite Valley. In the foothills 

 and in southern California, where it is 

 much more plentiful, the Indians still 

 gather its seeds by knocking the old 

 flower-heads with a stick and catching the 

 seeds in a flat basket as they are thrown 

 out. After they have been parched and ground the seeds are 

 added to wheat flour and the whole mass is pounded up 

 together. This dark-looking meal, or "pinole," is baked into 

 small cakes or loaves, which have a pleasant, nutty flavor. 

 Chia is one of the most important and famous of the Indian 

 plants. 



6. STACHYS. Hedge Nettle. 



Flowers in close whorls of an interrupted spike. Calyx 

 equally 5-toothed. Corolla with cylindric tube; upper lip 

 erect; lower lip spreading, its middle lobe largest. 



1. S. albens Gray. White Hedge Nettle. A perennial 

 herb, 1 to 4 ft. high, leafy and white-woolly to the top. 

 Leaves broadly oblong or ovate, obtuse or heart-shaped at 

 base, toothed, \ l / 2 to 4 in. long beyond the petiole, the 



