the Brhijli Species of Mentha, i^I 



north of Europe, well defcribcd by Bcrgius in his Materia Mcdica, but 

 quite diftin<5l from ours, from which it may at once be known by 

 its very hairy flowcr-flalks and calyx. Jt is merely a variety of the 

 M. hlrfiita of Linnaeus with the flavour of pepper-mint, of which I 

 Ihall prefently mention another inftance ; and this being the cafe, I 

 beg leave to retain the m.n\c piperita for the original Pcppcr-mint of 

 Ray. Of this there are two varieties, my « and /2, diftinguillied as 

 fpecies by Mr. Sole, but by cultivating the living fpecimens with 

 which he has favoured me, and obferving various others in a dried 

 ftatc, I am perfuaded they cannot be fpecifically diflin6l. The 

 old authors fuppofed them to be one and the fame, as we learn from 

 the colledtions of Buddie and Sherard; by which alfo we afcertain 

 with precifion the fynonyms of Ray and Dillenius. A Dr. Eales 

 appears to have been the difcoverer of this valuable plant, and he 

 feems to have firfl: gathered the long-fpiked narrow-leaved kind, 

 fuppofed to be of the bed quality. A ticket is annexed in Sherard's 

 herbarium to the capitate variety, which aflerts that "Ray judged 

 this to be the M. aijuatica Jive S!/)'77ibrium oi John. Bauhin, and com- 

 pared* its fcent to Penny-royal." I think the writer of this ticket 

 miftook the plant Ray meant, which is the common liirfuta of Lin- 

 naeus ; but neverthelefs it feems very probable, from John Bauhin's 

 figure and defcription,, that our capitate pepper-mint may be what 

 the latter intended.. He fays indeed nothing about its calyx, but he 

 defcribes and figures the M. hirfuta in the next chapter, exprefsly 

 mentioning the denfe hairinefs of the calyx in that fpecies. 



No writer before Mr. Sole feems to have noticed my third variety, 

 y. It is a larger plant in. every refpe(Sl than the others, with broad 

 almoft heart-fhaped leaves, and long thick fpikes. Its flavour is that 

 of the garden pepper-mint, but much lefs agreeable. It varies in de- 

 gree of hairinefs j even the upper part of the tube of the calyx is oc-. 



cafionali^f- 



