LABIATE TRIBE 31 



formerly termed La urea Christi, and has been from earliest times praised as a 

 febrifuge. It appears to possess powerfully asti'ingent properties. It is 

 rare in Scotland, but is found by Loch Lindore, Fifeshire ; and at Delvin, 

 Perthshire. 



2. Sage or Clary (Sdlna). 



1. Meadow Sage (aS'. prafensis). — Root-leaves oblong, heart-shaped at 

 the base, irregularly notched at the margin, stalked ; those of the stem few, 

 sessile ; uppermost narrow and pointed ; bracts egg-shaped and heart-shaped ; 

 corolla thrice as long as the calyx, upper segment clammy ; perennial. This 

 plant varies in height from half a foot to more than two feet. It has wrinkled 

 leaves, and its large bright blue flowers grow in whorls of about six, with 

 short egg-shaped bracts. It is very rare, occurring on dry meadows and 

 hedge-banks in a few English counties, such as CornAvall, Kent, and Oxford. 

 The flowers are of two forms, a larger containing both stamens and pistil, 

 and a smaller with perfect pistil only. Both produce honey for the attraction 

 of insects, and the stamens are mature in advance of the pistil. These 

 stamens are of a remarkable character : the tissue connecting the two anther- 

 lobes is drawn out to a great length, so that whilst one is in the vaulted 

 upper lip, the other, which is not fully developed, blocks the way to the 

 honey. On this lower one being pressed by the head of the bee, the leverage 

 thus applied brings down the upper anther upon the bee's back, which is thus 

 smeared with pollen. When the pollen has all been distributed the style 

 lengthens greatly, and the stigma arms reach out so as to come in the way of 

 an insect visitor and to touch his back. Many botanists think that it is not 

 a truly wild fioAver. 



2. Clary or "Wild Sage (*S'. rerhendca). — Leaves broadly egg-shaped, 

 blunt, heart-shaped at the base, wav}^ at the edge, crenate and stalked, those 

 of the stem sessile and clasping ; corolla scarcely longer than the calyx ; 

 bracts oblong and pointed, about the length of the calyx ; perennial. This 

 is a very generally distributed plant, and is not unfrequent on dry chalky or 

 gravelly pastures, especially near the sea. The blossoms are of a dull dark 

 purple, growing in long spikes, and they would give one the idea of being 

 never fully expanded, as their calyxes surround them, and are almost as long 

 as the corollas. The square stem is about one or two feet high, bearing a 

 few wrinkled, ragged-looking leaves. The whole plant has a strong aromatic 

 odour, something like that of the garden Sage, but, except in its wrinkled leaf, 

 it would not remind us of that plant, the foliage being of deep green hue, 

 often tinged with purple, and marked with strong veins. In Scotland it 

 occurs on the eastern side only. 



This Sage is a native of Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Its seeds when put 

 in water yield a mucilage which, placed within the eyelid for a few minutes, 

 envelops any particle of dust which may pain the eye. Hence the name of 

 the plant. Clary, or Clear Eye. Our old herbalists consider it one of the 

 most efficacious of herbs in any complaint of the eyes ; and not content, as 

 we might be, to use the mucilage only, they all give directions that the seed 

 itself should be laid under the eyelid. Gerarde says of this : " If put whole 

 into the eies it cleanseth and purgeth them exceedingly from rednesse, inflam- 



