LABIATE TRIBE 39 



expand in July and August. This species, which runs into a considerable 

 number of sub-species and varieties, is regarded b}^ some as itself but a mere 

 varietal form of M. aquatica, differing in bearing the whorls in the axils 

 instead of in terminal spikes. 



7. Corn Mint (71/. arv^nsis). — Leaves stalked, egg-shaped or elliptical, 

 sometimes heart-shaped at the base, serrated, upper leaves similar, and 

 equally large ; calyx bell-shaped, in some varieties downy, in others smooth, 

 having triangular acute teeth, about as broad as long ; perennial. This very 

 variable species is nearly allied to the last, its most marked difference being 

 in the form of its calyx-teeth. The wanderer in the corn-fields at that 

 pleasant season in which the labourer is gathering in his harvest, is very 

 likely to see this Mint cut down by the scythe, or to find it at a later season 

 springing up among the stubble. It is one of the commonest species of Mint. 

 The stem is from six inches to a foot in height, and it has whorls of small 

 lilac flowers in August and September. The smell is, in the ordinary form 

 of the plant, powerfully unpleasant, and has been not unaptly compared to 

 that of decayed cheese. It has carminative properties, and has sometimes 

 been employed as a stomachic medicine. Its stem is more or less branched, 

 and is, in some of its varieties, much tinged with red, in others bright green, 

 and some of these are of a mild and pleasant odour. This is one of the 

 plants that have flowers of two forms : a larger containing both stamens and 

 pistil, and a smaller containing pistil only. 



8. Narrow-leaved Mint {M. prati'nds). — Leaves nearly sessile, egg- 

 shaped, lanceolate, acute and serrated, upper ones similar, all longer than the 

 whorls; calyx bell-shaped, glandular, lower part smooth; teeth triangular ; 

 perennial. This is a very rare plant of marshy places. Its stem and leaves 

 are usually smooth, and the latter are paler on the under surface, and 

 glandular. The flowers grow in August and September in distant, almost 

 globular, whorls. Some writers doubt if the species is indigenous, as its only 

 record is in the year 1 789, when Sole found it in the New Eorest ; even then 

 it appears to have been only a form of M. sativa. 



9. Penny-royal (BL piiUgium). — Flowers whorled ; leaves egg-shaped, 

 downy, blunt, slightly serrated ; stem prostrate ; flower stalks and calyx 

 downy, the mouth of the latter closed with hairs ; perennial. This species 

 is very unlike the others, and is readily known by its prostrate stem ; it is 

 also smaller than our other wild kinds of Mint. It is a common plant near 

 streams or bogs, and has a most powerful odour, which some persons think 

 agreeable. Its purple flowers appear in June and July, the uppermost axils 

 of the leaves being usually empty. It is frequently planted on the little 

 plot of the cottage-garden — 



' ' The thyme strong-scented 'neath one's feet, 

 The marjoram beds so doubly sweet, 

 And Penny-royal's creeping twine, 

 ThesL', each succeeding each, are thine." 



It is still deemed a useful medicinal herb, and an exaggerated idea of its 

 properties probably won for it its epithet of Royal. The French also term 

 it Foidiot royal A tea made from its leaves is an old village remedy for 

 colds and coughs, and all the old simplers describe it as " good and whole- 



