LABIATiE. 47 



Self-heal. 



French, Brunelle communo. German, Gememe Bninelle. 



Dr. Prior tolls us tliat tLis jjlant has been called SIuiK/Ji-Iical, wliicli lie says is a 

 supposed but mistaken correction of self-heal, wliich uaiuo really expresses the general 

 belief about it. It meant that with which one may cure oneself without the helj) 

 of a surgeon; to which effect Ruolhus quotes a French proverb, that " No one wants 

 a surgeon who keeps Prunelle." 



GENUS X— SCUTELLARIA. Linn. 



Calyx short, bilabiate, closed after flowerino^ ; upper lip entire, Avitli 

 an elevated transverse curved scale or fold at the base, lower lip 

 entire ; throat not closed with hairs. Corolla bilabiate ; the upper lip 

 erect, concave, 3-toothed; the lower lip spreading, entire, or notched, 

 rarely the 2 lateral divisions free equally from either lip or combined 

 with the lower instead of the upper. Stamens 4 ; filaments parallel, 

 approximate under the upper lip of the corolla, without an appendage 

 beneath the anthers ; anther-cells divaricate, opening by a longitudinal 

 cleft common to the 2 cells. Nucules stipitatc, tuberculate. 



Herbs, rarely undershrubs, with the flowers generally in pairs in the 

 axils of leaflike bracts. 



The name of this genus is attributed to the resemblance of the calyx to a sort of 

 cup with a lid to it, called Scutella, or perhaps to a cap or head-covering. 



SPECIES I.-SCU TELL ARIA G A L E RI CU L AT A. Lum. 



Plate MLX. 



Itckh. Ic. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. XVIII. Tab. MCCLVI. Fig. 2. 

 nilhit, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 1303. 



Stem erect or ascending, rather stout. Leaves subsessile or very 

 shortly stalked, oblong -lanceolate or oblong-triangular, cordate, sub- 

 acute, crenate-serrate or crenate throughout. Bracts undistinguishable 

 from the leaves. FloAvers solitary in the axils of the bracts, bo as to be 

 in pairs, secund, very shortly stalked, arranged in a very lax raceme. 

 Calyx pubescent, without glands. Tube of the corolla slender, slightly 

 curved above the base, insensibly dilated upwards, 3 or 4 times as long 

 as the calyx, very finely pubescent. 



On the banks of lakes, streams, and ditches, and in swampy ground. 

 Rather frequent in England. Rare in Scotland, and not attaining the 

 extreme north. Widely distributed, but not frequent, in Ireland. 



England, Scotland, Irehind. Perennial. Late Sununer, Autumn. 



