274 LABIAT.E. \Lahiai(B. 



Order LXXXIIl. LABIATE. 



Flowers in-egiilar or rarely nearly regular. Calyx persistent, usually 

 5 -toothed. Corolla with a distinct tube and 4 or 5 lobes, usually forming 2 

 lips, rarely nearly equal. Stamens 2 or 4, in pairs, inserted in the tube of the 

 corolla, and alternating mth its lower lobes. Ovary 4-lobed, with one erect 

 ovule in each lobe. Style single, arising from the centre, with 2 short stig- 

 matic lobes at the top. Fruit enclosed in the calyx, separating into 4 small 

 seed-like nuts. — Herbs, or rarely shrubs, fi'equently aromatic. Leaves oppo- 

 site or whorled. Flowers in opposite cymes or rarely solitaiy, either forming 

 axillary clusters, called false-ivhorh (verticillasters), or in terminal spikes, or 

 racemes, or spike-like panicles or tliyrd, or in loose panicles. 



A large Order, distributed over every part of the globe. 



Stamens 2 ; the filaments branched, one branch with a perfect cell, the 



other with an imperfect or mdimentary one 6. Salvia. 



Stamens 4. 



Stamens nearly straight and equal, or bending downwards. 

 Calyx 2-lipped. 



Stamens bending downwards, exserted. Anthers 1-celled . . 1. Mesona. 

 Stamens not longer than the corolla. Anthers 2-ceUed ... 4. Pekilla. 

 Calyx nearly regular, 5-toothed. 



Filaments woolly-hairy. Stamens much exserted. 



Lower lobe of the corolla longest. Flowers in dense clusters, 



forming interrupted spikes 2. Pogostemon. 



Corolla nearly regular. Flowers in close cyHndrical spikes . 3. Dysophylla. 



Filaments glabrous 5. Mentha. 



Stamens ascending in pairs. 



Stamens shorter than the upper Hp of the coroUa. 

 Calyx nearly equally 5-toothed. 



Calyx tubular, 15 -nerved. Upper stamens longest .... 7- Nepeta. 

 Cal)x 5-nerved. Lower stamens longest. Leaves deeply cut . 10. Leonurus. 



Calyx nearly equally 10-toothed 11. Leucas. 



Calyx with 2 entire lips, and an appendage on the back of the 



upper one 8. Scutellaria. 



Stamens projecting beyond the upper lip or lobes of the corolla. 

 Short upper lip of the corolla enthe behind the stamens. Nuts 



smooth 9. Anisomeles. 



Short upper lip deeply cleft into 2 lobes, between which the 



stamens protrude. Nuts reticulate 12. Teucrium. 



L MESONA, Blume. 



Calyx 2-lipped; the upper lip 3-toothed; the lower entii-e, truncate. Co- 

 rolla with a short tube ; the limb campanulate ; the upper lip broad, truncate 

 or 4-toothed ; the lower longer, oblong, concave. Stamens 4, declining ; upper 

 filaments with a tooth or appendage at the base. — Herbs. Flowers small, 

 the false-whorls in terminal racemes. Calyx-tube transversely wrinkled when 

 in fruit. 



A small tropical Asiatic genus. 



1. IVI, chinensis^ BentJi. Stems decumbent, scarcely a foot long, slightly 

 pubescent or haiiy. Leaves ovate or oblong, obtuse, 1 to 1| in. long, slightly 

 toothed, and narrowed into a rather long petiole. Floral leaves or bracts 

 ovate or lanceolate, scarcely longer than the flowers, mostly coloured at the 



