LABIATE FAMILY 379 



Stemmed plant, i — 2 feet high, with few roughish, 3-cleft leaves, 

 and small, lilac flowers in very slender, terminal, compound 

 spikes. — Waste ground ; common. — Fl. July — September. 

 Perennial. 



Ord. LIX. Labiat.^. — The Labiate Family 



A large and clearly defined Natural Order, comprising upwards 

 of 2,500 species of herbs and shrubs, which agree in having 

 square stems ; opposite, decussate, simple, exstipulate leaves ; and 

 bilabiate, or 2-lipped flowers in axillary cymes, forming generally 

 verticillasters or false whorls. The calyx is inferior, tubular, 

 persistent, and 5-cleft ; the corolla hypogynous, monosymmetric, 

 and mostly 2-lipped (bilabiate); the lower lip larger and 3-lobed, 

 the upper less distinctly 2-lobed ; the stamens 4, didynamous, or 

 rarely 2, maturing before the stigmas (protandrous) ; ovary 

 superior, of 2 united carpels, deeply 4-lobed, with a single style 

 arising from the base of the lobes (gynobasic) ; stigma 2-cleft ; 

 fruit a regma of 4 nutlets, each containing a single seed. They 

 occur mostly in warm and temperate climates, and are remarkable 

 for not possessing injurious properties in any single instance. 

 Most of them have strong aromatic perfumes, which are often 

 pleasant, owing to the presence of abundance of volatile or 

 essential oil, from which camphor-like, solid substances can be 

 extracted. Menthol, for instance, is obtained from various species 

 of Mint (Mentha). It is a valuable remedy in neuralgia. 

 Patchouli {Pogostemon Pdfchoiili) is a favourite perfume, and 

 Lavender {Lavandula vera) is not only also a perfume, but has 

 medicinal uses as a stimulant. Several kinds of Mint, especially 

 Peppermint {Mentha piperita) and Pennyroyal {M. Pulegium), are 

 much used in medicine. Rosemary {Rosmarinus officinalis) is 

 remarkable for its undoubted power of encouraging the growth of 

 the hair and curing baldness, and is an active ingredient in most 

 pomatums. It is one of the plants used in the preparation of 

 Eau de Cologne and Hungary water, and the admired flavour of 

 Narbonne honey is ascribed to the bees feeding on the flowers 

 of this plant, as the honey of Hymettus is indebted for its 

 flavour to Wild Thyme. Our aromatic pot-herbs, the leaves of 

 most of which are used in a dried state, are all members cf this 

 Order. Among them are Mint {Mentha viridis), Sage {Salvia 

 officinalis), Thyme {Thymus vulgaris), Basil {Ocimum Basilicum), 

 Marjoram {Origammi Marjordna), and Savory {Satureia). The 

 tubers of Stdchys tuberifera have been introduced from Japan, 

 under the name of Chinese artichokes, as a substitute for potatoes. 



