LABIATE TRIBE 



"7 



8. Ballota (Black Horehound) 



I. B. Nigra (Black Horehound). The only British species. A 

 coarse, bushy plant, 2-3 feet high, erect and branching, with ovate 

 or heart-shaped, downy, wrinkled, and crenate leaves, and numerous 

 one-sided clusters or whorls of purple flowers. The odour of the 

 whole plant is peculiarly strong and 

 offensive. Waste ground ; common. 

 Fl. July to September. Perennial. 



9. Leonurus {Motherwort) 



1. L. cardiaca (Common Motherwort) 

 The only British species. Distin- 

 guished from all other British plants of 

 the Order by its leaves, which are deeply 

 cut into 5 or 3 narrow, pointed segments, 

 and by the prickly calyx-teeth of its 

 flowers, which grow in whorls. When 

 not in flower it resembles Mugwort 

 (Artemisia vulgaris) in habit. The 

 stems are 2-3 feet high, branched, prin- 

 cipally below ; the upper leaves are 

 very narrow and entire ; the flowers 

 light purple. Hedges and waste places ; 

 not common, and perhaps not indigen- 

 ous. Fl. August. Perennial. 



Lf.onurus Cardiaca 

 (Common Motherwort) 



Gai.ropsis Trtrahit 

 (Common Hemp-nettle) 



10. Galeopsis (Hemp-nettle) 



1. G. tetrahit (Common Hemp-nettle). 

 An erect, slender plant, 2 feet high, with a 

 bristly stem, swollen below the joints 

 opposite, spreading branches, and bristly, 

 serrated leaves. The flowers, which are 

 variegated with light purple and yellow, or 

 sometimes white, grow in whorls in the 

 axils of the upper leaves, and are rendered 

 conspicuous by the long sharp calyx-teeth. 

 Cornfields ; common. Fl. July to Sep- 

 tember. Annual. 



G. versicolor is a variety of G. tetrahit, 

 which it resembles in general character ; 

 the flowers are large, yellow, with usually 

 a broad purple spot upon the lower lip. 

 In both the variety and the type the size 

 of the flowers varies a good deal. 



