4: ENGLISH BOTANY. 



SPECIES I— MENTHA ROTU N DIFO L I A. Linn. 



Plate IDCS. 



Beich. Le. Fl'. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVIII. Tab. MCCLXXXH. 



Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. G05. JJalrr, Jom-n. of Bot. 1865, p. 235. 



M. sylvestris, Sole, British Mints, p. 7, PL III. 



Leaves sessile or subsessile, oval or ovate-oval, cordate, obtuse or 

 sub-obtuse, crenate- serrate or serrate, rugose, from the veins being all 

 impressed above and prominent beneath, sparingly hairy above, 

 felted with short arachnoid wool beneath. Spikes conico cylindrical, 

 dense. Bracts ovate, acuminate; bracteoles lanceolate, acuminate, about 

 as long as the flowers. Pedicels hairy. Calyx oblong-campanulate, 

 bristly -hairy ; teeth nari'owly triangular, half as long as the tube. 

 Corolla scarcely half as long again as the calyx, hairy without, 

 glabrous within. 



In damp places. Eather rare, and probably not native in many of its 

 stations. It is certamly mdigenous in the south of England ; abundant 

 on the south side of the Isle of Wight, In Scotland I have gathered it 

 abundantly on the banks of the Esk above Musselburgh, but in the 

 company of plants certainlj^ not native. In Ireland it is widely 

 distributed, and apparently truly wild in the south. 



England, [Scotland,] Ireland. Perennial. Autumn. 



Rootstock extensively creeping and stoloniferous, as m most of the 

 species of this genus. Stem stout, erect or decumbent, 1 to 3 feet high, 

 solid, quadrangular, much branched. Leaves 1 to 3 inches long, very 

 broad, somewhat resembling those of sage, usually quite sessile, at least 

 on the main stems. Spikes solitary at the extremities of the branches, 

 and 3 to 5 often agglomerated at the extremity of the main stem ; the 

 primaiy one 1^ to 3 mches long, continuous or interrupted at the base ; 

 the whole arranged in a panicle. Lowest bracts subfoliaceous, but 

 much smaller than any of the leaves, ihe upper ones minute, not exceed- 

 ing the open flowers. Pedicels short, bristly-hairy. Calyx teeth slightly 

 unequal. Corolla ^ inch long, white or pale blush. Stamens included 

 or more commonly exserted, purplish. Nucules ovate-ovoid, thickly 

 sprinkled with resinous dots. Plant dull green, leaves often whitish 

 and arachnoid beneath, odour strong. 



A form with the leaves variegated with white is common in gardens. 

 This has the leaves less felted beneath, less rugose, and frequently 

 more distinctly stalked, so that it forms a connecting link with the suc- 

 ceeding species, but it has the short calyx-teeth of M. rotundifolia. 



Sound-leaved Hint. 



Frencli, Mcnllie a feuillcs rondes. German, rundhlatifljn Minxe. 

 \)\\ Withering tells us that Mr. Ssole states this species to be the true MnilliiMntm 



