PuateE XXXII. 
MICROMERIA piprretua, Benth. 
Natural Order Lapiataz. 
Gen. Cuar.— Calyx cylindrical, 13- rarely about 15-ribbed ; teeth 
nearly equal, straight or scarcely forming two lips; throat generally 
hairy.. Corolla straight; limb bilabiate; wpper lip erect, nearly flat, 
entire or emarginate. Stamens 4, ascending, approximate above or 
more rarely somewhat divergent; anthers free, 2-celled ; cells distinct. 
Achenes dry, smooth.” Benth. Lab. et Scroph. p. 369. 
Spec. Cuar.—Fasciculi few-flowered, the common peduncle nearly as 
long as the floral leaves. Calyx tubular, pubescent, 13-ribbed; teeth 
subulate; throat hairy within. Corolla pubescent, twice the calyx in 
length. Leaves ovate, sometimes cordate at the base. 
Micromeria piperella, Benth. in DC. Prodr. xii. 221 ; Woods, Tour. 
Fl. p. 288. 
Hapitat.—Mountains near Mentone, at not less than 3000 feet ele- 
vation. September, October. 
Remarks.—The plant here figured is peculiar to the maritime Alps, 
where it is tolerably abundant at high elevations. Those who are at 
Mentone as early as the commencement of October may find M. pipe- 
rella, Benth., in its greatest beauty; but to the greater number of 
visitors the flowers are but little known, on account of the lateness of 
their arrival. The most distinctive feature of this genus is the calyx, 
which separates it from Thymus by its nearly equal teeth, which are not 
disposed in two lips ; from Satureia by its thirteen instead of ten nerves; 
and from Calamintha by its greater regularity (Benth. in DC. Prodr. 
xu. 212). The division of Labiatee into tribes, founded upon the posi- 
tion of the stamens, seems to me a little difficult of apprehension, as it 
sometimes happens that in the same species two forms exist, in one of 
which the character of a tribe not its own is found. This seems to be 
the case here, as the anthers in M. piperella, instead of being conver- 
gent under the upper lip of the corolla, are widely separated, as in the 
tribe Thymez. 
EXPLANATION OF Plate XXXII.—Fig. 1, a flower and bracts. Fig. 
2, the corolla. Figs. 5 and 4, the front and back of a stamen. Fig. 5, 
stigma and part of style. Fig. 6, the calyx (drawn as seen against 
the light), showing the thirteen nerves, two of which branch. 
