674 



LABIATE. I. OCYMUM. II. GENIOSPORUM. 



leaves ovate, acute, serrated, wrinkled beneath. Native of Japan. 

 Stem tetragonal, furrowed, tomentose. Racemes of flowers 

 terminal, contracted. 



Wrinkled-\ea\ed Basil. PL 2 to 3 feet. 



38 O. SCA'BRUM (Thunb. in Lin. trans. 2. p. 338.) racemes 

 simple, erect ; leaves ovate, dotted beneath. Native of Japan. 

 O. punctatum, Thunb. jap. 249. Stem panicled, tetragonal, 

 scabrous from pili, like the whole plant. Leaves oblong, acute, 

 serrated. Racemes terminal ; flowers opposite. 



Scabrous Basil. PI. 1 foot. 



39 O. INFLE'XUM (Thunb. fl. jap. 249.) panicle terminal, 

 racemose ; stem and branches flexuous. Native of Japan. 

 Stem and branches inflexed at top, tomentose, tetragonal. 

 Leaves ovate, acute, serrated, scabrous. This species powdered 

 is used by the Japanese to perfume their idols. 



/n/Zexed-branched Basil. PI. 1 foot. 



40 O. VIRGA'TUM (Thunb. fl. jap. p. 250.) racemes verticil- 

 late, twiggy ; leaves oblong, serrated. Native of Japan. Stem 

 tetragonal, deeply furrowed, tomentose, branched. Leaves 

 obovate-oblong, tomentose, 1 inch and more long. Whorles 

 6-flowered. 



Twiggy Basil. PI. 



41 O. CINE'REUM (R. Br. in append, to Salt. Abyss.) Native 

 of Abyssinia. This species has not yet been described. 



Grey Basil. PI. 



Cult. Plants of easy culture and propagation. Any light 

 rich soil will suit the species. The shrubby and perennial 

 kinds are readily increased by cuttings. The seeds of annual 

 kinds should be reared on a hot-bed, and afterwards planted 

 out. See O. Basilicum, p. 671. 



II. GENIO'SPORUM (meaning unknown to us.) Wall. 

 mss. Benth. lab. 19. O'cymum, species of Lin. and other 

 authors. 



LIN. SYST. Didynamia, Gymnospermia. Calyx ovate-tubular, 

 with an irregularly, somewhat 5-toothed, membranous margin, 

 when bearing the fruit erectish, or declinate, usually transversely 

 wrinkled at the base ; throat naked inside ; upper tooth not 

 decurrent : lateral ones often joined by turns with the upper one 

 and lower ones. Corolla with a straight tube, which is rather 

 shorter than the calyx ; throat campanulate, sub-bilabiate ; 

 upper lip 4-cleft ; lower one hardly longer, declinate, quite 

 entire, flattish. Stamens 4, declinate, didynamous : lower ones 

 the longest ; filaments free, toothless ; anthers ovate-reniform, 

 with confluent cells. Style shortly bifid at top ; lobes usually 

 flattened ; stigmas submarginal. Achenia smooth, or wrinkled, 

 when examined by a lens. Annual, or perennial herbs, usually 

 procumbent at the base. Whorles many-flowered, disposed in 

 nearly simple racemes or spicate-racemes. Floral leaves usually 

 cartilaginous at the base, white or yellow. Flowers small. 

 The corolla is that of O'cymum and Moschosma, but the habit is 

 very different. The form of the calyx and the many-flowered 

 whorls separate it from the first ; and the calyx, inflorescence, 

 and style readily separate it from the latter. 



SECT. I. GENIOSPORUM (see genus for derivation.) Two lower 

 teeth of calyx free. 



1 G. MADAGASCARIE'NSIS (Benth. lab. p. 20.) stem suffruti- 

 cose, procumbent, branched ; leaves petiolate, ovate, bluntish, 

 crenated, rounded at the base, or cordate, wrinkled, rather 

 villous on both surfaces : floral ones bractea-formed, ovate, 

 acute, white at the base. Tj . S. Native of Madagascar, on 

 Mount Tanonarivan. Stem bluntly tetragonal. Floral leaves 

 small, sessile. Whorles 10-flowered. Genitals exserted. 



1 



Madagascar Geniosporum. Shrub procumbent. 



2 G. STROBILI'FERUM (Wall. pi. asiat. rar. 2. p. 18. Benth. 

 lab. p. 20.) stem erect, branched ; leaves nearly sessile, ovate- 

 oblong, narrowed at both ends, toothed, rough, hispid above, 

 and rather glabrous beneath ; whorls many-flowered, spicate on 

 the tops of the branches : lower ones rather remote ; floral 

 leaves ovate, acuminated, exceeding the flowers ; calyxes nearly 

 sessile, erect in the fructiferous state, tubular, transversely 

 wrinkled at the base, with an irregularly 5-toothed, membranous 

 border. J? . S. Native of the East Indies ; as of Nipaul and 

 Silhet. Plectranthus colorata, D. Don. prod. fl. nep. p. 116. 

 Cauline leaves 2-3 inches long. Corolla hardly longer than the 

 calyx, blue. Genitals rather shorter than the corolla. 



Strobile-bearing Geniosporum. Shrub. 



3 G. PARVIFLORUM (Benth. in Wall. pi. rar. asiat. 2. p. 18. 

 lab. p. 20.) stem erect, branched ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 acute, narrowed at the base, serrated, strigosely hispid ; raceme 

 elongated, loose, many-flowered ; calyxes pedicellate, declinate 

 while bearing the fruit, transversely wrinkled at the base, with 

 a bilabiate border : upper lip tridentate : middle tooth larger, 

 ovate ; lower lip quite entire, inflexed, closing the calyx. 

 Native of Silhet. Stem glabrous at the bottom, but hispid from 

 pili at top, and furnished with a fascicle of hairs in the axils of 

 the cauline and floral leaves. Leaves tapering into the short 

 petioles. Calyx hispid at the base. Corolla small. Stamens 

 exserted. 



Small-flowered Geniosporum. PI. 1 to 1J foot. 



4 G. ELONGA'TUM (Benth. lab. p. 21.) stem prostrate at the 

 base, and are, as well as the erectish, elongated branches, pubes- 

 cent ; leaves on short petioles, oblong-lanceolate, acute, serrated, 

 attenuated at the base, rather hispid ; whorls many-flowered, 

 approximate, spicate ; calyxes on short pedicels, rather declinate 

 in the fructiferous state, ovate, striated at the base, and wrinkled 

 transversely, with a contracted mouth : upper tooth ovate, 

 membranous, obtuse, 4 lower ones smaller, and acute. Native 

 of Ceylon, on the mountains, Macrae. Rhinanthus I'ndica, 

 Burm. fl. ind. 131. t. 39. f. 1. 



Elongated-branched Geniosporum. PI. prostrate. 



5 G. GRA'CILE (Benth. lab. p. 21.) quite glabrous; stems 

 prostrate, much branched ; leaves oblong-linear, subserrated, 

 narrowed a long way at the base ; whorls many-flowered, loosely 

 racemose : lower ones remote ; pedicels capillary, about twice 

 as long as the calyxes ; calyxes tubular, striated at the base, 

 transversely wrinkled, with a membranous, acutely 5-toothed, 

 sub-bilabiate mouth Native of Ceylon, on the sea-shore near 

 Colombo, Macrae ; Coromandel, Klein. Very nearly allied to 

 G, prostrata, but is distinguished at first sight by its smooth- 

 ness, narrower leaves, and more loose inflorescence. 



Slender Geniosporum. PI. prostrate. 



6 G. PROSTRA'TCM (Benth. in Wall. pi. asiat. rar. 2. p. 18. 

 lab. p. 21.) stem prostrate, and is, as well as the branches, his- 

 pid ; leaves petiolate, oblong-lanceolate : lower ones sub-ovate 

 upper ones lanceolate-linear, serrated, narrowed at the base 

 whorls many-flowered, spicate : lower ones rather remote 

 calyxes pedicellate, declinate in the fructiferous state, striated at 

 the base, and transversely somewhat wrinkled, with an irregu- 

 larly bilabiate, membranous mouth ; upper lip tridentate, with 

 the middle tooth the largest : lower lip erect, bidentate. 

 Native of the East Indies, Coromandel, Ceylon, &c. Lumnit- 

 zera prostrata, Spreng. syst. 2. p. 687. O'cymum prostratum, 

 Lin. mant. p. 566. O'cymum menthoides, Burm. fl. ind. p. 

 129. Lin. mant. 84. Thy'mus I'ndicus, Burm. fl. ind. p. 129. 

 Mentha ocymoides, Lam. diet. 4. p. 103. Elsholtzia ocymoides, 

 Pers. ench. 2. p. 114. Mentha Zeylanica, &c. Burm. thes. 

 zeyl. 158. t. 70. f. 2. Katu-tumba, Rheed. mal. 10. p. 183. t. 



