GENUS 9. 



MINT FAMILY. 



i. Meehania cordata (Nutt.) Britton. 

 Meehania. Fig. 3593. 



Dracocephalum cordatutn Nutt. Gen. 2: 35. 1818. 

 Cedronella cordata Benth. Lab. 502. 1834. 

 Meehania cordata Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 21 : 33. 

 pi. 173. 1894. 



Flowering stems ascending, 3'-8' high; stolons 

 very slender, leafy throughout, sometimes 2 

 long. Leaves all broadly ovate or ovate-orbicu- 

 lar, thin, obtuse or subacute at the apex, crenate 

 all around, cordate at the base, sparingly pubes- 

 cent with scattered hairs on both surfaces, or 

 nearly glabrous beneath, green on both side.*, 

 I '-2' long, the basal sinus broad; spikes l'-4' 

 long ; bracts ovate or oblong, acute, membranous, 

 the lower sometimes crenulate and surpassing 

 the calyx ; bractlets small, lanceolate ; calyx about 

 5" long, puberulent, its longer teeth about one- 

 half the length of the tube; corolla I'-ii' long, 

 showy. 



In rich moist woods and thickets, southwestern 

 Pennsylvania to Illinois, Tennessee and North 

 Carolina. May-July. 



10. NEPETA [Rivin.] L. Sp. PI. 570. 1753. 



Herbs, with dentate or incised leaves, and mostly white or blue rather small flowers in 

 verticillate clusters, usually crowded in terminal spikes, or axillary and cymose. Calyx tubu- 

 lar, somewhat oblique at the mouth, 15-nerved, usually incurved, 5-toothed, scarcely 2-lipped, 

 but the upper teeth usually longer than the lower. Corolla-tube enlarged above, the limb 

 strongly 2-lipped ; upper lip erect, emarginate or 2-lobed ; lower lip spreading, 3-lobed, the 

 middle lobe larger than the lateral ones. Stamens 4, all anther bearing, didynamous, ascend- 

 ing under the upper lip, the lower pair the shorter ; anthers 2-celled, the sacs divaricate. 

 Ovary deeply 4-parted ; style 2-clef t at the summit. Nutlets ovoid, compressed, smooth. 

 [Ancient Latin name of catnep.] 



'About 150 species, natives of Europe and Asia, the following typical. 



i. Nepeta Cataria L. Catmint. Catnep. 

 Nep. Fig. 3594. 



Nepeta Cataria L. Sp. PI. 570. 1753. 



Perennial, densely canescent, pale green ; stem 

 rather stout, erect, branched, 2-3 high, the 

 branches straight, ascending. Leaves ovate to 

 oblong, petioled, acute at the apex, coarsely cre- 

 nate-dentate, mostly cordate at the base, i'-3' 

 long, greener above than beneath ; flower-clusters 

 spiked at the ends of the stem and branches, the 

 spikes i '-5' long; bracts small, foliaceous; bract- 

 lets subulate; calyx puberulent, its teeth subu- 

 late, the upper about one-half the length of the 

 tube ; corolla nearly white, or pale purple, dark- 

 dotted, puberulent without, 5"-6" long, its lobe a 

 little longer than the calyx, the broad middle lobe 

 of its lower lip crenulate. 



In waste places, New Brunswick and Quebec to 

 South Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Kansas and 

 Utah ; also in Cuba. Naturalized from Europe. 

 Native also of Asia. July-Nov. 



ii. GLECOMA L. Sp. PI. 578. 1753. 



Low diffuse creeping herbs, with long-petioled nearly orbicular or reniform crenate 

 leaves, and rather large blue or violet flowers in small axillary verticillate clusters. Calyx 

 oblong-tubular, 15-nerved, oblique at the throat, not 2-lipped, unequally 5-toothed. Corolla- 

 tube exserted, enlarged above, the limb 2-lipped; upper lip erect, 2-lobed or emarginate; the 

 lower lip spreading, 3-lobed, the middle lobe broad, emarginate, the side lobes small. Stamens 

 4, didynamous, all anther-bearing, ascending under the upper lip of the corolla, not exserted, 

 the upper pair the longer; anther-sacs divergent. Ovary deeply 4-parted. Nutlets ovoid, 

 smooth. [Greek name for thyme or pennyroyal.] 



About 6 species of Europe and Asia, the following typical. 



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