30 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



attaining the length of £ to 1 inch in var. ^. Bracts ^ inch long, 

 purple at the apex, or neai'ly wholly purjde (except when the flowers 

 are white, in which case the bracts are pale green), glabrous, or sparingly 

 hairy in lines. Calyx cylindrical, slightly enlarged upwards in flower, 

 much so m fruit, glabrous or slightly hairy in lines, sprinkled with 

 3'ellow dots; teeth triangular, one-third the length of the tube, the 

 same colour as the bracts; throat closed by hairs in fruit. Tube of 

 the corolla slightly exceeding the calyx; liml) with the upper lip 

 narrow, slightly notched, the loAver lip 3-lobed ; colour purplish pink, 

 varying in intensit}^, rarely wliite. Stamens sometimes exserted, 

 sometimes included. Nucules brown, ovoid, slightly compressed, 

 granulated. Plant more or less pubescent, the pubescence on the stem 

 mainly in two opposite strips, on the leaves densest towards the margms 

 on the upper side, and on the veins beneath. 



Common Marjoram. 



French, Origan, commnn. German, Gcmciner Dost. 



Tills plant has a very ancient medical reputation. The Greeks vised it extensively, 

 both internally and for making fomentations. It was esteemed as a reiiKxly for nar- 

 cotic poisons, convulsions, and dropsy, by them, and also by the older herbalists of 

 Europe. The whole plant has a strona^, peculiar, rather agreeable balsamic odour, 

 and a warm, bitterish, aromatic taste, both of which j)roporties are preserved when 

 the herb is dry. It yields, by distillation with water, a small quantity of a reddish 

 volatile oil, which may be seen in vesicles en holding up the leaves between the eye 

 and the light, and which is the chief soui'ce of its properties as a medicinal agent. It 

 is still an ingredient in some embrocations in use in England, and has a special repu- 

 tation for toothache. In medicine it is commonly, but erroneously, called oil of 

 thyme. I lb. of the oil is produced from about 200 lbs. of the herb, which should be 

 gathered when just coming into flower, which it does about the middle of July. Largo 

 quantities of it are still gathered and hung up to drj- in cottages in Kent and other 

 counties for making marjoram tea. The "swete margerome," as our fathers called it, 

 was so much prized before the introduction of various foreign perfumes, that " swete 

 bags " and " swete washing waters " made from this plant were to be found in every 

 druggist's shop. The flowering tops yield a purple dye, formerly used by the 

 peasantry for giving colour to wool, but the tint is neither brilliant nor durable. The 

 tops arc sometimes put into table-beer to give it an aromatic flavour and make it keep, 

 and before the introduction of hops they were nearly as much in demand for ale- 

 browing as the ground ivy or the wood sage. The origin of the word Marjoram, or 

 rather that of the Latin Marjorana, of which our term is a corruption, is unknown. 



GENUS r.—CALAMINTHA. Monch. 



Calyx tubular, with 13 striaj, bilabiate; upper lip 3-toothed, more 

 or less spreading, the lower one 2-toothed, erect. Corolla bilabiate, 

 the tube usually longer at the calyx and nearly straight; upper lip 

 erect, nearly flat, notched or entire; lower one 3-lobed, with the IoIjcs 

 nearly equal. Stamens 4; liiauients converging at the :ipex under the 



