MENTHA MINT. 207 



Speedwell has been considered diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, etc., 

 "but is seldom employed, and probably possesses very little medicinal 

 virtue. 



LAB I AT /E. 



Character of the Order. Herbs, rarely undershrubs, with square stems, 

 and opposite, exstipulate leaves. Calyx tubular, 5- to 10-toothed or 2- 

 lipped, persistent. Corolla more or less 2-lipped ; the upper lip 2-lobed, or 

 sometimes entire ; the lower 3-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous, or by abor- 

 tion 2, inserted on the tube of the corolla. Ovary deeply 4-lobed ; style 2- 

 lobed at the apex. Fruit 4 seed-like nutlets or achenia, enclosed in the 

 calyx. 



Foliage commonly dotted with glands containing aromatic volatile oil. 

 Flowers axillary, chiefly in cymose clusters, and these frequently aggre- 

 gated in terminal spikes or racemes. 



A very large order of aromatic plants, wholly destitute of deleterious 

 or poisonous properties. Very many of them have been cultivated for 

 culinary or medicinal purposes from time immemorial, hence a large per- 

 centage of the valuable species at present inhabiting North America have 

 been introduced. 



TEUCRIUM. GERMANDER. 



Teucrium Canadense Linne. American Germander, Wood-Sage. 



Description. Calyx oblique, unequally 5-toothed. Corolla with the 4 

 upper lobes nearly equal, oblong, turned forward ; the lower much larger. 

 Stamens 4, exserted from a cleft between the two upper lobes of the corolla. 



An herbaceous perennial. Stem erect, 1 to 3 feet high. Leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute, serrate, rounded at the base, petiolate ; the upper ones 

 scarcely longer than the calyx. Both stem and leaves hoary-pubescent. 

 Flowers pale purple to white, in whorls of about 6, crowded in a long sim- 

 ple raceme ; they appear about midsummer. 



Habitat. In low ground from Canada to Florida. 



Parts Used. The herb not official. 



Constituents. A volatile oil, a bitter principle, and tannin. 



Preparations. Commonly employed in infusion. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Germander, both American and European 

 species, possesses the stimulant and aromatic properties of labiate plants 

 generally, and has been employed as a diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, 

 etc. 



MENTHA. -MINT. 



Character of the Genus. Calyx 5-toothed, regular or nearly so. Corolla 

 bell-shaped, with a short tube, the margin nearly equally 4-lobed. Stamens 

 4, erect, equidistant. 



