BLUE AND PURPLE 



vetch or tare, with purplish or pinkish flowers, growing singly 

 or in pairs from the axils of the leaves, which leaves are divided 

 into fewer leaflets than those of the blue vetch. This species also 

 takes possession of cultivated fields, as well as of waste places along 

 the roadside. 



WILD MINT. 



Mentha Canadensis. Mint Family. 



Leaves. — Opposite; aromatic; oval to lance-shaped ; toothed; tapering 

 to both ends. Flozvers. — Small ; purplish or whitish ; in globular clusters 

 in the axils of the leaves. Calyx. — Five-toothed. Corolla. — Four-cleft; 

 the upper lobe broadest and sometimes notched. Stamens. — Four. Pistil. 

 — One, with a two-lobed style. Ovary. — Deeply four-lobed. 



In wet places, throughout the Northern States, we find our 

 native wild mint. 



SPEARMINT. 



Mentha viridis. Mint Family, 



Leaves. — Opposite; aromatic; unequally toothed; narrowly oblong; 

 sessile, or nearly so. Flowers. — Small ; purple or whitish ; in narrow, leaf- 

 less, densely crowded spikes ; otherwise as in above. 



In wet places, in all cultivated districts, we find the spear- 

 mint, this plant being an escape from gardens. 



PEPPERMINT. 



Mentha Piperita. Mint Family. 



Leaves. — Opposite; aromatic; with leaf-stems; sharply toothed; pun- 

 gent-tasting. Flowers. — Small; purple or whitish; in loose, narrow, in- 

 terrupted leafless spikes ; otherwise as in above. 



The peppermint is another European emigrant, and an 

 escape from gardens, which has made itself thoroughly at home 

 along our brooks. 



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