MINT FAMILY LABIATAE 
STONEROOT. RICHWEED 
Collinsonia canadensis L. 
This peculiar Mint, variously called Stoneroot, Richweed and 
Horse Balm, is distributed among three species, all confined 
to eastern North America. Collinsonia canadensis is the only 
species in Illinois, scattered in 
rich woodlands in the southern 
half of the state. 
It is a tall, strongly aromatic 
perennial with large, petioled, 
ovate leaves that are coarsely 
toothed. The stem is nearly smooth 
and 1%4-3% feet high. 
The flowers bloom from July to 
September in loosely panicled, 
terminal racemes. They are small, 
with yellow corolla and green calyx 
which is cup shaped, 2-lipped and 
1o-nerved. Stamens are 2, with 
sometimes 2 others rudimentary, 
_ connected at the base of the fila- 
ments by a woolly ring on the 
corolla tube. The ovary is deeply 
4-lobed and produces 4 smooth 
- nutlets. The fruiting calyx is en- 
~~ Jarged and strongly ribbed. 
The Beefsteak Plant, Perilla 
frutescens (L.) Britton, has been 
naturalized from eastern Asia, runs 
wild along most watercourses in the 
south and has made its way into 
southern Illinois. It is a foliage plant whose stems and large toothed 
leaflets constitute its chief beauty, as they are more or less purple, 
and often conspicuously so. The latter are 3-6 inches long and nearly 
as wide, broadly ovate, acuminate at the apex and narrowing into 
long petioles, and coarsely toothed. The many-flowered 3-6-inch 
racemes are terminal and axillary. The flowers are very small, pur- 
plish white and inconspicuous, often so uncommon that mountaineers 
nsist that the plant does not bloom. The odor is very disagreeable 
and like that of some of the true bugs. 
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