86 



LABIATAE. 



[Voi,. III. 



I. Meehania cordata (Nutt.) Britton. 

 Meehania. (Fig. 3093.) 



Dracocephalum cordalum Nutt. Gen. 2: 35. 1818. 

 Cedronella cordata Bciitli. I,ab. 5112. 1834. 

 Meehania cordata Britlon, Bull. Torr. Club, 21: 



33. pi. 173 . iS94- 



Flowering stems ascending, 3'-S' high; 

 stolons very slender, leafy throughout, some- 

 times 2° long. Leaves all broadly ovate or 

 ovate-orbicular, thin, obtuse or subacute at the 

 apex, crenate all arouud, cordate at the base, 

 sparingly pubescent with scattered hairs on 

 both surfaces, or nearly glabrous beneath, 

 green on both sides, i'-2' long, the basal sinus 

 broad; spikes i'-4' long; bracts ovate or ob- 

 long, acute, membranous, the lower sometimes 

 crenulate and surpassing the calj-x; bractlels 

 small, lanceolate; calyx about 5" long, puber- 

 ulent, its longer teeth about one-half the 

 length of the tube; corolla \'-i%' long, showy. 



In ricli moist woods and thickets, southwestern 

 Pennsylvania to Tennessee and North Carolina. 

 May-July. 



9. NEPETA L. Sp. PI. 570. 1753. 



Herbs, with dentate or incised leaves, and mostly white or blue rather small flowers in 

 verticillate clusters, usually crowded in terminal spikes, or axillary and cymose. Cahx 

 tubular, somewhat oblique at the mouth, is-nerved, usually incurved, 5-toothed, scarcely 

 2lipped, but the upper teeth usually longer than the lower. Corolla-tube enlarged above, 

 the limb strongly 2-lippcd; upper lip erect, entire, cmarginate or 2-lobed; lower lip spread- 

 ing, 3-lobed, the middle lobe larger than the lateral ones. Stamens 4, all anther bearing, 

 didyiiamous, .iscendiiig under the upper lip, the lower pair the shorter; anthers 2-celled, the 

 sics divaricate. Ovary deeply 4-parted; style 2-cleft at the summit. Nutlets ovoid, com- 

 pressed, smooth. [Ancient Latin name of catuep.] 



About 150 species, natives of Europe and Asia. 



I. Nepeta Cataria L. Catmint. Cat- 

 nep. Nep. (Fig. 3094.) 



Nepeta Cataria L- Sp. PI. 570. 1753. 



Perennial, densely tomentulose-canescent, 

 pale green; stem rather stout, erect, branched, 

 2°-^° high, the branches straight, ascending. 

 Leaves ovate to oblong, petioled, acute at the 

 apex, coarsely creuatedentate, mostly cordate 

 at the base, I'-j' long, greener above than be- 

 neath; flower-clusters spiked at the ends of the 

 stem and branches, the spikes l'-5' long; bracts 

 small, foliaceous; bractlets subulate; calyx 

 densely puberulent, its teeth subulate, the upper 

 about one-half the length of the tube; corolla 

 nearly white, or pale purple, dark-dotted, puber- 

 ulent without, 5"-6" long, its tube a little 

 longer than the calyx, the broad middle lobe of 

 its lower lip crenulate. 



In waste places. New Brunswick and Quebec to 

 Minnesota, south to Virg:inia and Kansas. Natural- 

 ized from Europe. Native also of .\sia. July-Nov. 



10. GLECOMA I,. vSp. PI. 578. 1753. 



Low diff'use creeping herbs, with long-peliolcd nearly orbicular or reniform crenate 

 leaves, and rather large blue or violet flowers in small axillarj^ verticillate clusters. Calyx 

 oblong-tubular, 15-uerved, oblique at the throat, not 2-lipped, unequally 5-toothed. Cor- 

 olla-tube exserted, enlarged above, the limb 2-lipped; upper lip erect, 2-lobed or emarginate; 

 the lower lip spreading, 3-lobed, the middle lobe broad, emarginate, the side lobes small. 

 Stamens 4, didynamous, all anther-bearing, ascending under the upper lip of the corolla, 



