LABIATiE. 25 



retained by closed windows. It was likewise tlionglit to communicate its purifying 

 qualities to water, and Gerarde tells us : " If you Lave, when you are at the sea, 

 Pcnny-royale in j2;reat quantity dry, and cast it into corrupt water, it helpcth it 

 much, neither will it hurt them that drink thereof." As a purifier of the blood, as 

 well as other things, it is highly spoken of : " Penny-royale taken with, honey 

 cleanseth the lungs, and cleareth the breast from all gross and thick humours." 

 According to Boj-le, it is a useful medicine in hooising-cough ; but, as this disease is 

 just one which no internal remedy is ever knowTi to afiect, it is safe to recommend it, 

 without fear of its unfavourable contrast with other medicines. It was deemed by 

 our ancestors as valuable in headaches and giddiness. We are told : " A garland of 

 Penny-royale made and worne about the head is of great force against the swimming 

 in the head, and the paines and giddinesse thereof." 



Tribe II.— SATUREIINEiE. 



Corolla bilabiate; upper lip flat. Stamens 4, divergent, or curved 

 and converging at the apex ; the outer or lower pair the longest ; 

 anthers 2-celled, cells convergent. 



GENUS IIL—T H Y M U S. Linn. 



Calyx bilabiate, with 10 to 13 strife, 5 -toothed; 3 upper teeth short, 

 triangular ; lower pair linear-subulate, ascending. Corolla bilabiate ; 

 upper lip notched ; lower lip 3-lobed, with the middle lobe larger than 

 the others, notched. Stamens 4 ; filaments straight, divergent ; anther- 

 cells at length diverging at the base, not contiguous at the apex. 



Aromatic undershrubs, with small entire leaves, often with revolute 

 margins. Flowers pale purple, blue, or white, in verticillasters collected 

 into terminal heads or lax spikes, or with the verticillasters distant, in 

 the former case sometimes with the bracts coloured. 



The origin of the name of this genus of plants is thus given by several authors : 

 It is said to be Ovfioc (tlujmos) of Theophrastus and Dioscorides ; fi-om dvfioc (thi/mos), 

 courage, strength, the smell of thyme being reviving ; or from Ovio (thyo), to perfiime, 

 because it was used for incense in temples. 



SPECIES I.— THYMUS SERPYLLUM. Mm. 



Plates MXLIII. MXLIV. 



Stems weak, procumbent or ascending, branched. Leaves flat, shortly 

 stalked, elliptical-oblong or oval, obtuse, entire. Flowers capitate, 

 usually with several separated whorls beneath the tenninal head. 

 Bracts resembling the leaves. Calyx widely funnel-shaped, attenuated 

 towards the base, the 3 upper teeth triangular, the 2 of the lower 

 lip triangular-subulate ; all ciliated. Tube of the corolla not exceeding 

 the calyx. 



VOL. VII. E 



