382 



LABIATiE 



as a pot-herb, and is distinguishable by its pungent smell. — Fl. 

 August, September. Perennial. 



5. M. piperita (Peppermint). — A smaller, more slender, gla- 

 brous species, i — 1| feet high, with stalked, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 

 serrate leaves ; spikes short, lax, blunt, and interrupted below ; 

 bracts lanceolate ; calyx often red. — Wet places ; uncommon. 

 Perhaps a cultivated form oi M.hirsuta. — Fl. July — September. 



Perennial. 



6. M. pubescens 

 (Downy Mint). — Stem 

 12 — 18 in. high; leaves 

 stalked, ovate-oblong, 

 serrate, hairy above, 

 woolly beneath ; spikes 

 cylindric, stout, dense, 

 interrupted below. — 

 Middle and south of 

 England only; rare. — 

 Fl. August, September. 

 Perennial. 



7. M. hirsuta (Hairy 

 Mint, Capitate Mint).— 

 The commonest and 

 one of the most variable 

 of the Mints, growing 

 in extensive masses in 

 wet places, i — 4 feet 

 high, with a strong 

 smell ; leaves stalked, 

 ovate, serrate, acute, 

 downy on both surfaces; 

 flowers pale lavender, in 

 axillary and terminal 

 rounded heads, hairy. — 

 Banks of rivers and 

 marshes ; abundant. 



The Bergamot Mint (M. citrdta) is a glabrous form. — Fl. July — 

 September, Perennial. 



ft Whorls in the axils of leafy bracts 



8. M. saliva (Marsh Whorled Mint). — With difficulty separated 

 from the preceding; but growing 2 — 5 feet high, with leaves 

 green, though hairy on both surfaces, and with all the whorls of 

 flowers separate, all the bracts leafy, and the uppermost ones 



MENTHA hirs6ta {Hairy Mint). 



