the Briiijh Species of Mentha. 187 



Jn'obably from Ray's having fo ftrongly infifted upon the ax^ of 

 them being diflinft from the garden Spear-mint. Hence Iludfon 

 was induced to feparate them from that, and, on account of their 

 hairy fpikes perhaps, to refer them to his viltofa, owy fylvejlris. I am 

 convinced the confl:ant nakednefs of their flower-ftalks and bafe of 

 the calyx, how hairy foever the teeth may be, is a decifivc mark of 

 their having no affinity to fylvejlris or rotimdifolia , but, on the con- 

 trary, evinces their belonging to the v'irldis, with which their gene- 

 ral habit and ftrudlure altogether agree. They only differ from it 

 in having a ftronger and lefs grateful fmell ; their leaves are more 

 rugofe, rather broader, and generally fliorter ; their brafleae perhaps 

 arc not quite fo fetaceous as in the viridis, but all thefe circumftanccs 

 vary. With refpe6l to their differences from each other, nothin* 

 can be more flight ; nor ftiould I have believed that any botanifl: 

 would have made them different fpecics, had I not examined the au- 

 thentic fpecimens of Dale in Buddie's and Sherard's colledlions. Of 

 thefe my variety y has the mofl hairy fpike, the teeth of the calyx 

 and the bradeae being fringed with long white hairs. The leaves 

 are alfo a little hairy beneath. It is not eafy to underftand why Dil- 

 lenius defines this '■^ /pica latiore" cT has fliorter and rather broader 

 leaves, and the hairs on the braftca; and calyx are fliorter. /2, the 

 mofl common variety, has broader leaves, with a Icfs hairy fpike. 



I cannot conclude tliis account of M. viridis without noticing one 

 more variety of that fpecies, though it has not yet been obferved wild 

 in Great Britain. This differs from the foregoing chiefly in having 

 very broad ovate leaves, deeply and fliarply ferrated, more or lefs 

 crifped or curled about the edges. The bra6f esc and calyx-teeth are 

 fringed with fhort hairs, and the former are broader than is ufual 

 in the other varieties, fo that they might be termed linear-lanceolate. 



This is the 



B b 3 Mentha 



