CLASS IV. ORDER I.;] MELITTIS. 827 



GENUS XVI. MELITTIS Linn. Bastard Balm. 



Nat. Ord. Labia'te^. Juss. 



Gen. Char. Calyx large, campanulate, upper lip two or three toothed, 

 the lower with two ovate lobes. Corolla with the upper lip nearly- 

 flat, entire, the lower one of three nearly equal ovate lobes. 

 Anthers in pairs, disposed in a crusiform manner, — Name from 

 fjisXXicrcra,, Att. /xEXira, a Bee ; so called from its yielding honey to 

 bees. 



1. M. Melissophyl'lum, Linn. (Fig. 954.) Bastard Balm. Leaves 

 ovate oblong, crenato serrated; upper lip of the calyx with two or three 

 teeth. 



cc. vulgaris. Leaves oblong ovate ; corolla with the middle lobe of 

 the lower lip purple, with a white margin. 



M. grandijlora. — English Botany, t. 636. — English Flora, vol. iii, 

 p. 112. 



/S. guttatum. (Fig. 955 ) Leaves broadly ovale, somewhat heart- 

 shaped at the base ; flowers purplish, spotted. 



M. Melissophyllum. — English Botany, t. 577. — English Flora, vol. 

 iii. p. 112. 



Root with somewhat creeping suckers. Stem erect, from one to two 

 feet high, square, rough, with spreading or deflexed hairs, simple or 

 branched. Leaves numerous, opposite, ovate, or ovate oblong, rounded 

 or heart-shaped at the base, the margin more or less coarsely toothed or 

 crenated, and somewhat hairy, paler beneath, the lower on longish 

 footstalks, the upper with shorter ones. Inflorescence of from one to 

 three stalked axillary flowers in the upper part of the stem. Calyx 

 large, bell-shaped, the upper lip two or three toothed, reticulated with 

 veins, hairy, often coloured. Corolla large, downy externally, the tube 

 long, cylindrical, of a pale yellow, or ofien purplish, the upper lip 

 plane, entire, yellowish cream colour, the lower three-cleft, the lateral 

 ones oblong, the middle one broad, somewhat heart-shaped or crenated 

 on the margin, all spotted with dark purple, or the lateral ones yellow, 

 and the middle one with a large purple spot and white narrow margin. 

 Stamens shorter than the corolla, curved beneath the upper lip. 

 Anthers oblong, two valved. 



Habitat — Woods and shady places in the South of England. Tor- 

 quay. — Miss Griffiths. Cornwall, Hampshire, &c. 



Perennial ; flowering in May and June. 



The flowers of the Bastard Balm are the largest and most beautiful 

 of this tribe of our plants. It is easy of cultivation in an open shady 

 situation, and flowers freely, the corolla varying in its colour, and the 

 spots upon its lower lip. Its use as a medicinal plant is now very 

 limited, though it has the reputation of being useful as a diuretic, and 

 is made into a tea for a drink in fevers, &c. 



