59 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS. 



viridis), the cultivated herb of kitchen gardens. Spear-mint 

 is held to be only a naturalized, not a native species, unless it 

 be in one corner of our country West Yorks. We have, how- 

 ever, seven species that may be set down as natives, but they 

 are a rather troublesome group for the botanical student ; there 

 are so many varieties, hybrids, and sub-species, which tend to 

 connect the species and make it difficult to determine the 

 identity of some specimens. With the exception of the Corn- 

 mint (M. arvensis), they are all inhabitants of wet and marshy 

 wastes, flowering in August and September. They are Labiate 

 plants, and therefore the reader will know what type of flower 

 to expect (see pages 21 and 23 anle). These flowers are 

 individually small, but rendered more conspicuous by being 

 borne in dense whorls, the whorls being often so many and so 

 close together as to form long spikes of bloom. They are all 

 perennial herbs, with square stems and rootstocks, the latter 

 creeping on or just below the surface of the ground, and giving 

 off runners freely. Mentha rotundifolia has broadly ovate, 

 wrinkled, stalkless leaves, the edges indented with rounded 

 teeth, and woolly on the underside. Flower-spikes dense, 

 though with slight intervals between the whorls. The colour 

 of the flowers varies from pink to white. The other species 

 are : 



I. Horse-Mint (M. sylvestris). Leaves stalkless, more tapering to a po'nt than 

 in M. rotundifolia^ smooth above, sharply toothed, whitish beneath. Stem covered 

 with white woolly hairs. Flowers lilac, spike continuous. Rare. 



II. Peppermint (M. piperata). Leaves stalked, margins with large teeth, smooth 

 above, a few hairs along the nervures underneath. Flowers purplish in spikes. 



III. Water-Mint (M. aquatica). A very common form in marshes and by river- 

 sides, covered with soft hairs. Stout spikes, lilac or purple. Leaves stalked. 



IV. Marsh-mint (M. sativa). In this and the two following species the whorls 

 are produced from the axils of the leaves instead of as a terminal spike. The leaves 

 are stalked, with sharp teeth. Flowers purplish. The throat of calyx smooth, 

 calyx-teeth lance-shaped, ending in a fine point. 



V. Corn-mint (M. an'ensis). Leaves with blunt teeth. Calyx very hairy, teeth 

 shorter than in last, triangular. Corolla hairy, purplish. Cornfields and waste 

 places. 



