42 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



wliicli gives the flower the appeartince of having 4 stamens united into 

 ])airs ; the longer branch of the connective with a fertile anther lobe, 

 the shorter with one wliich is usually sterile and frequently minute 

 and inconspicuous. 



Herbs or undershrulis of various haljit, Avith the flowers generally 

 showy ; bracts sometimes brightly coloured. 



The (lerivatioii of the name of thi.s genus is from the word " Salvus," well or in 

 •••oocl health, because it was esteemed capable of healing various diseases. 



SPECIES I.— 3 ALVIA VERBENACA. Lm,i. 



Plate MLVl. 



Reich. lo. Fl. Germ, et Holv. Vol. XVIII. Tab. MCCLV. Pig. 2. 



Billot, PL Gall, et Germ. E.^sicc. No. 1944. 



S. Verbenaea, a. siuuata, Vis. Eclch. fil. 1. c. p. 30. 



Herbaceous. Radical leaves longly stalked, ovate-oblong or oval- 

 oblong, subobtuse, crenately-lobed or pinnatifid, with the lobes 

 crenate-dentate; lowest pair of stem leaves shortly stalked; the other 

 ones sessile, ovate or triangular-ovate, acute, doubly crenate-dentate or 

 serrate-dentate; all rugose, subglabrous, generally hairy on the veins 

 beneath. Bracts semicircular-ovate, cu.spidate, cordate, at length 

 reflexed, coloured towards the apex ; all, except the lower ones, shorter 

 than the calyx. Verticillasters subspicate; the lower wliorls rather 

 remote, commonly 6-flowered. Calyx campanulate ; upper lip broad, 

 flattish, recurved-concave towards the apex at the margins, with 3 very 

 miiuite connivent spinous-apiculate teeth, the lower lip with 2 longer 

 broadly-lanceolate spinous-acuminate teeth. Corolla not twice as long- 

 as the calyx, the tube without a ring of hairs inside ; upper lip shorter 

 than the tube, semielliptical in profile, with the curvature greater 

 towards the apex, which is not glandular. Connective of the anthers, 

 dilated posteriorly into a wing on each side. Style included within 

 the upper lip of corolla. 



In dry pastures, by roadsides, on banks and waste ground. Not 

 imcommon in England. Rare in Scotland, Avhere it occurs in the Queen's 

 Park, Edinburgh, and on the coast of Fife, near Pettycur. Rare in 

 Ireland, and confined to the south and middle of the island. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Spring to Autumn. 



Rootstock woody, one or many-headed. Radical leaves in a rosette, 

 on stalks 1^ to 4 inches long; lamina li to 4 inches, usually with 5 or G 

 shallow blunt lobes on each side; rarely pinnatifid witli o1)tuse or 

 acute lobes, commonly cordate or subcordate at the base. Flowering 



