NEILGHERRY PLANTS. 89 
much esteemed in such cases, but Spearmint and Pennyroyal are also in great request 
at Home, hence the frequent use of mint tea by invalids, especially in the country, where 
domestic medicine is much resorted to. Lavender oil, obtained from the Lavandula 
vera, is also in great esteem. It forms the basis of the well-known Spirits of Lavender. 
Of the very numerous species of sage, only one or two seem to be used medicinally, 
namely, the officinal or garden sage. ‘The Indian sage, which has similar properties, has 
been separated to form a distinct genus, under the name of Meriandra. It grows freely 
at Ootacamund, and might be cultivated to any required extent as a substitute for the 
true garden sage. The Rosemary is another plant deserving attention. In medicine it 
has been employed as a cephalic, for the relief of headache, but is principally remark- 
able for its power of promoting the growth of hair, “it is in fact what causes the green 
colour of the best pomatums used for that purpose,” Lind., and an infusion of it keeps the 
hair in curl during damp weather. ‘The patchouli or Pucha-pat, of which large quantities 
are exported from Penang for stuffing mattresses and pillows, is a species of Pogostemon. 
Its strong smelling leaves are supposed by the Natives to keep off contagion and prolong 
life. It is now largely consumed in Europe. The Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) is a 
popular and useful remedy at Home, for coughs and more severe forms of cold, by restoring 
the tone of the stomach and allaying irritation: for these purposes it is prescribed in 
form of infusion and lozenges. The Prunella vulgaris, a native of the Hills, is pre- 
scribed in domestic medicine as a febrifuge. Of the Indian Labiates the Ocima or Base 
are used for similar cases as those for which mints are prescribed in Europe. The most 
extensive consumption, however, of the plants of this family is not medicinally, but in 
cookery, under the name of “sweet herbs,” for flavouring cooked dishes and sauces, and 
in perfumery, while many are cultivated for their beauty as garden ornaments, especially 
the sages. 
PLECTRANTHUS. 
Calyx campanulate, 5-toothed, teeth equal or the upper one larger; enlarging with the seed and then 
declining, straight, incurved, or inflated with the teeth equal or variously 2-lipped, sometimes erect, tubular, 
or campanulate, equally 5-toothed. Tube of the corolla exserted gibbous above the base, or-calcarate, then 
abruptly declining (declinato defracto) or nearly straight; throat equal or rarely inflated, the upper lip 3-4 
cleft, the lower one entire, often longer concave. Stamens declinate, didynamous, the lower ones longer ; 
filaments free edentulate ; anthers ovate, reniform, cells confluent or rarely somewhat distinct, divaricate ; 
‘style 2-cleft at the apex, lobes about. equal, subulate, with minute terminal stigmas. Herbs, undershrubs, 
.or shrubs. Racemes terminal, simple or ramous; verticillasters lax, many-flowered, usually producing cymes 
on each side, rarely contracted into dense verticillasters. Benth. 
The essential character of the genus is comprised in these few words : 
“Inferior lobe of the corolla elongated, concave. Calyx of the fruit dentate, not spiny, mouth open. 
Filaments free.” By this last mark it is distinguished from Coleus, which it sometimes much resembles, in 
which the filaments are united, or monadelphous, at the base. 
Wipes oe ¢ t extent, including, as it now stands in De Candolle’s Prodromus, 65 species, natives 
are but varieties. The 
banks of:streams ; it is, if possible, still more common on some of the higher range 
In: such: situations, when sheltered by adjoining woods, 
