LABIAT.^. (MINT FAMILY.) 



617 



Fig. 285. 



.005 broad, flowering toward apex, loose, racemed along 

 h'anches from lower third uj) in a loose thyrsus .03 to .04 

 broad; bracts prominently veined, ovate-orbicular, cor- 

 date or cuneate at base, mucrouate, a little more than 

 half as long calyx ; calyx-tube once and a half as long 

 as lanceolate teeth ; corolla white, nearly twice as long- 

 as calyx; stamens loug-exserted, nearly twice as long as 

 corolla — Summer — Sunny hill-sides on the eastern de- 

 clivity of the Judoean plateau between Plebrou and 

 Zuweirat-el-Foqa, 



Spike of 

 < )iiganum Dayi 



6. O, vulgare, L. If Marjoram. .5 to .8 or more, more or 

 less hirsute. Leaves petioled, ovate to oblong, repand, .01 to .03 

 long. Spikes dense, .01 to .015 long, .004 to .005 broad, cylindrical 

 to prismatic, more or less panicled or corymbed ; bracts generally col- 

 ored, glandular-dotted, ovate-elliptical, acute ; calyx glabrous, glandu- 

 lar-dotted — Summer — Subalpine Lebanon ; Sinai. 



Var. viride, Boiss. Bracts green, smaller, 'glabrous or hairy — 

 Amanus. 



Var. prismaticuin, Blanche. Spikes dense, prismatic; bracts 

 colored — Around Ehedin (Lebanon). 



"Var. laxifloruin, Post. Spikes Zooj^e, .015 to .02 long; bracts 

 green — Neba'-el-Qa'a, Ain-Zehalta (Lebanon). 



Var. longcspicatuiii, Post. Spikes .02 to .03 long, dense, 

 prismatic; bracts green — Near Jeba' (Lebanon). 



* * * Bracts .002 to .003 hng, densely imbricated. Oalyx top-shaped, 

 split along its anterior face, 1-lipped. 



7. O. Maru, L. 5 Za'tar. .5 to 1, shrubby at base; branches 

 erect, stiff, hairy. Leaves nearly sessile, ovate to ovate-oblong, obtuse, 

 .01 to .03 long, canescent, thick. Spikes oblong, .006 to .01 long, at 

 length cylindrico-prismatic, in short-pe duncled cymes, paniculate ; 

 bracts woolly, 4-ranked, obovate, as long as calyx ; calyx entire or ob- 

 soletely retuse — May to October — Terrace walls and rocks ; common 

 throughout. 



Var. Siiiaicuin, Boiss. Indument more scattered, less white — 

 Sinai. 



Var. capitatum, Post. Spikes few-flowered, globular-ovate, 

 .005 long — Coast of Syria. 



O. Maru may be the Hyssop of Scripture. The aromatic powder 

 of the spikes and leaves is a favorite condiment in the East. 



8. O. Oiiites, L. 5 Sbrubby at base; branches erect, thick, 

 papillose-hirsute and minutely glandular. Leaves tomentellous, grey- 

 ish, ovate, someiohat serrate, the lowest short-petioled, the others ses- 

 sile, acute. Spikes ovate, compact, crowded into a Jiattish, compound 

 corymb ; floral-leaves oblong-lanceolate, shorter than spreading pedun- 

 cles ; bracts in 4 rows, ovate-orbicular^ acutish, nerved, hirtulous, hood- 

 Si 



