456 PLANTS AND MAN 



purplish flowers. A western species, found from Texas to Cali- 

 fornia, has pale blue flowers clustered in the axils of the leaves. 

 Blue curls is a more slender plant with bell-shaped flowers whose 

 upper lobes are longer than the lower ones; it grows in sandy- 

 fields from New England to Texas. A related blue-flowered species 

 known as vinegar weed is found in dry fields from California to 

 Washington. Skullcap is a rather large genus of plants partial to 

 marshy habitats; the common blue skullcap has coarsely toothed 

 leaves and small blue flowers clustered in the axils of the leaves, 

 while hooded skullcap has larger blue flowers which are solitary 

 in the axils of the upper leaves. Western species found on the 

 Pacific coast are yellow or white in color as well as blue. 



The sirongly aromatic sages produce whorls of flowers sur- 

 rounded by leafy bracts — each flower with an erect upper lip and 

 a three-lobed lower one. The thistle sage common to dry west- 

 ern fields has lavender flowers grouped into terminal heads — the 

 middle lobe of each lower lip is delicately fringed and each 

 flower is surrounded by spine-like bracts. Other western species 

 have crimson, blue or purple flowers. Oswego tea or bee balm is 

 an eastern plant of open woods and roadsides with heads of 

 scarlet flowers above reddish bracts. Related species of central 

 and eastern United States include wild bergamot, with yellow 

 or lilac colored flowers, purple bergamot with purplish red 

 flowers; and horsemint with yellow flowers, spotted with purple. 

 The mint genus includes many species with aromatic and fra- 

 grant foliage; the common wild mint, found in moist habitats 

 from New England to Nebraska, has whorls of small lavender or 

 white flowers in the axils of the leaves. 



The Figwort Family 



The Figwort Family {Scrophulariaceae) is characterized by 

 flowers with four or five sepals — which may or may not be united 

 — and corolla of five united petals with a lobed or hooded upper 

 lip and a three-lobed lower one (fig. 278). 



Monkey flower is a genus found from New England to 

 California. A common eastern species of wet habitats has op- 

 posite leaves and blue flowers; the western monkey flower displays 

 a corolla of bright yellow spotted with red. Turtlehead is a 



