Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 291 



MINT FAMILY (Labiatae). 



A very large family of herbs having, usually, 

 square stems, strong scented foliage and small tubu- 

 lar flowers conspicuously situated in spikes or from 

 the leaf axils. The flowers usually have two-lobed or 

 entire upper lips and three-lobed lower. They all 

 bear honey and are nearly all dependent upon mem- 

 bers of the bee family for cross-fertilization. 



SELF-HEAL; HEAL-ALL (Prunella vulgaris) is 

 one of the commonest and most widely distributed 

 members of the mint family. Along roadsides, in 

 fields and on the borders of woods, everywhere 

 throughout the country, we will find this familiar 

 flower. The stem grows from 6 to 15 inches high and 

 is topped with a cylindrical flower head, composed of 

 many, two-lipped, tubular, purple florets. But few of 

 these bloom at a time commencing at the bottom, and 

 the flowering season extends from June to Septem- 

 ber. The leaves are sparingly toothed and seated 

 oppositely on long stems. Usually several leaflets 

 appear from their axils and sometimes smaller flower 

 heads from the axils of the upper ones. It is fre- 

 quented most often by bees, in fact it is often known 

 as the "bee flower." 



SKULLCAP (Scutellaria intergrifolia) is one of the 

 handsomest of the Skullcaps, the tubular, two-lipped 

 flowers in the loose terminal spike, each measuring 

 about one inch in length. The downy stem rises 

 from 6 to 24 inches high and is set oppositely with 

 toothless, lance-shaped, round-ended leaves. It is 

 found in dry ground from Mass, to Fla. and along the 

 Gulf. 



BUGLEWEED (Lycopus virginicus) is similar in 

 general form to the last; the leaves are coarsely 

 toothed. The tiny, white, tubular flowers are in small 

 clusters in the axils of the leaves. A slight, fancied, 

 bugle-shape to the corolla form the basis for its com- 

 mon name. 



