58 LABIATE. 



3. Common Calamint (C. officinalis). — Leaves broadly egg-shaped, 

 blunt, stalked, green on both sides, with rounded serratures at the margin ; 

 cymes stalked, few-flowered ; calyx distinctly 2-lipped ; teeth with a long 

 fringe, those of the upper lip triangular, of the lower longer, and awl-shaped ; 

 hairs in the mouth not prominent ; lobes of the lower lip of the corolla 

 distant, middle one the longest ; perennial. This is not an infrequent plant 

 in dry places, on hedgebanks, and by waysides. It is erect and bushy, its 

 stems and foliage of a pale greyish-green, and downy. Its flowers expand 

 in July and August ; they are numerous, of a pale pinkish colour, and have 

 small pointed bracts in the forks of their stalks. The flavour and scent of 

 the plant are aromatic, and the tea made by an infusion of the leaves is an 

 old and not disagreeable medicine for colds and other maladies, Avhile a com- 

 pound syrup of Calamint is sold by druggists for the cure of coughs. The 

 plant is sometimes called Calamint Balm, or Mountain Mint, and it is said of 

 it, that if put upon meat which has been kept too long, it will remove all 

 unpleasant odour and flavour. The French call it Calement ; the Grcrmans, 

 Kalamint ; the Dutch, Berg-Kalaminth ; the Italians Calaminfa. 



4. Wood Calamint (C sylvdtica). — Stem with ascending branches ; 

 leaves stalked, broadly egg-shaped, sharply serrated, green on both sides ; 

 flowers in forked cymes ; calyx distinctly 2-lipped ; teeth with a long fringe, 

 those of the upper lip spreading or turning backwards, of the lower longer 

 and awl-shaped ; hairs in the mouth not prominent ; lobes of the lower lip 

 of the corolla with ovei'lapping segments, all nearly equal in length ; 

 perennial. This plant bears large pale purple flowers from August to 

 October, and its leaves are larger than those of the other species, though all 

 the Calamints are very much alike. The root creeps slightly below the 

 ground. This is a rare species, found among copse-wood in the Isle of Wight, 

 and some parts of Hampshire and Devon. It is also regarded as a sub- 

 species of <J. officindliif. 



* * * Flourrs in dense axillary tchorh ; bracts foniuny a sort of involucie. 



5. Wild Basil (C. vulgaris). — Leaves egg-shaped, obtuse, rounded below, 

 slightly crenate ; whorls equal, many-flowered ; bracts bristly, as long as the 

 calyx J perennial. This plant was formerly called Unprofitable Basil, 

 probably in contrast to the Sweet Basil of the garden, or Royal Basil, as it 

 was termed. This is the Ocymum basilicum, and was thought to be the Ocimum 

 so prized by the ancients, of which, however, we know little more than that 

 Pliny said it throve best when sown with cursing and railing. Our Wild 

 Basil is about a foot or a foot and a half in height. It is a straggling, hairy, 

 not very attractive plant, having in July and August bristly whorls of stalked 

 reddish-purple flowers, with numerous long pointed bracts. It occurs 

 abundantly on dry banks, and in hedges, or other bushy places, in England, 

 where we may often meet with a stray plant or two flowering long after the 

 usual season, and cheering the December landscape ; in Scotland and Ireland 

 it is rare. It grows wild throughout Europe, from Sweden to Greece and 

 Sicily, in Middle Asia, and also in some parts of North America, where, 

 however, it is an introduced plant. The French call it Le CUnopode, and the 

 Germans Die Wirheldoste. It is the Burstelkrans of the Dutch, the Clinopodio 



