Hedeoma. labiate. 67 



Stem 6-12 inches high, retrorsely pubescent, obtusely 4-angled, branching above. Leaves 

 half an inch to an inch long, rather obtuse, abruptly narrowed at the base into a petiole, 

 sparingly toothed, dotted. Flowers about three in a cymule, on short pubescent pedicels. 

 Calyx hairy below, glandularly dotted, distinctly gibbous at the base ; the upper teeth smooth ; 

 the lower subulate and strongly ciliate : throat slightly villous. Corolla pale blue, pubescent: 

 upper lip slightly emarginate ; lobes of the lower lip equal and entire. Fertile stamens 

 scarcely exserted ; the sterile (upper) pair distinct, with small capitate abortive anthers. Style 

 very unequally 2-lobed at the summit. 



Dry hills, open barren woods, and road-sides ; common. July - August. This plant is 

 well known for its strong aromatic smell and warm pungent taste, resembling the Mentha 

 pulegium of Europe. It is extensively employed as an aromatic stimulant, diaphoretic and 

 emmenagogue. An essential oil is extracted from it, which is kept in all the apothecaries' 

 shops. (See Wood <^ Bache, U. S. Dispens. p. 344.) 



11. MICROMERIA. Benth Lab. p. 368, MICROMERIA. 



[ From the Greek, micros, small, and men's, a part.] 



Calyx tubular, almost equally 5-toothed, or somewhat 2-lipped ; the throat usually villous. 

 Corolla 2-lipped ; the upper lip erect, flattish, entire or emarginate ; the lower spreading : 

 the lobes flat and nearly equal, or the middle one broader. Stamens 4, all fertile, didyna- 

 mous ; the lower pair longer and ascending. — Suffrutescent or herbaceous plants. Cymules 

 axillary or spiked, rarely many-flowered and panicled. Flowers usually small, purplish or 

 white. 



1. MicROMERiA GLABELLA, Benth. var. angustifolia. Niagara Thyme. 



Smooth ; stem herbaceous, erect, with prostrate stolons at the base ; leaves sessile , those 

 of the stem oblong-linear, obtuse, entire , of the stolons ovate (small), petiolate ; cymales 

 1 - 3 - 5-flowered , the pedicels elongated, naked ; calyx obscurely 2-lipped , the teeth subu- 

 late. — M. glabella, Benth. Lab. p. 371, excl. syn. Michx. ^ Pers. ; Hook. fl. Bor-Am. 2. 

 p. 114. Hedeoma glabra, Nutt. gen. 1. p. 16, not of Pers. Cunila glabra, Torr. fl. 1. 

 p. 23, not of Michx ; Beck, bot. p. 277. 



Root creeping. Stems 4-8 inches high, branching below, throwing out long slender 

 suckers from the base, often purplisli. Leaves of the stems 5-8 lines long and 1-2 lines 

 broad, narrowed at the base, dotted ; the veins indistinct : leaves of the stolons 3-4 lines 

 long, abruptly narrowed at the base into a petiole, often purplish underneath. Upper flowers 

 all solitary ; the lower ones in 3- (rarely 5-) flowered cymules : pedicels fihform. Calyx 

 13-nerved ; the teeth all lanceolate-subulate, nearly equal : throat closed with dense white 

 hairs. Corolla pale violet, twice as long as the calyx : upper lip entire ; lower with the middle 



9* 



