114 FLOWERS OF THE HEATHS AND MOORS 



Essential Specific Characters: — 



243. Melampynun pratensc, L. — Stem erect, branched, leaves 

 lanceolate, paired, flowers yellow, distant, paired, axillary, lower lip of 

 the corolla proiectin^-, corolla four times as long as the calyx. 



Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium, L.) 



As a southern type we have no record of the occurrence of Penny- 

 royal in early deposits. Its present distribution is Europe, N. Africa, 



and N. and W. Asia, 

 or the North Temperate 

 Zone. In Great Britain 

 it grows in the Peninsula 

 and Channel provinces, 

 except in E. Sussex; in 

 the Thames province, 

 Anglia, except in Bed- 

 ford; in the Severn pro- 

 vince, except in Mon- 

 mouth and Hereford; in 

 S. Wales only in Gla- 

 morgan; in N. Wales in 

 Carnarvon, Flint, and 

 Anglesea; in the Trent 

 province, except in S. 

 Lines; in S.E. Yorks, 

 S.W. Yorks, N.W. Yorks, 

 Durham in the Tyne pro- 

 \ ince, and Lakes district. 

 In Scotland it is found 

 only in Ayr and Berwick, 

 south of which it is gen- 

 eral. It is a native of 

 Ireland and the Channel Islands. In some counties it is only an escape. 

 Careful search upon a stretch of heath-land or common-land, in 

 which are scattered numerous little ponds and pools, will reward the 

 Ijotanist who is searching for Pennyroyal. It is rather local, but a 

 common constituent of ericetal formations, and is usually to be found 

 by pools in such areas. 



It is a much smaller, less erect, terrestrial form of mint. The stem 

 is more or less prostrate. The leaves arc egg-shaped, acute, notched. 



Photo. Dr. Somcrville Hastings 



Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium^ L.) 



