324 17SEKUL PLANTS OF OH AM. 



or sinoulli; leaves shortly pctiolcd or si'ssilt^, oblonji-ovatc or lanceolate, serrate; 

 (lowers in axillary capitate wliorls; l)racts acute, shorter than the flowers; calyx 

 hairy, tci-tli triangular i>i- lanceolate; corolla hairy without ami within, suhecjually 

 4-ioheil; stamens 4; sti^nna bifid, style branches short. 



Cultivated in <iuani, often grown in jiots. It is used lor making mint juleps. 

 Rkkkkkncks: 

 Menllin arremix L. Sp. PI. 2: .")77. \7r>'S. 



Menthaceae. Mint family. 



This family is represented in (luam by the genera ('olens, Mentha, Mesos])haerum, 

 and Ocinunn. Tlu^ author of the name IMenthaceae, which is here published for 

 the lirst time, is I'rof. licster F. Ward, who has presented the f<il lowing statement 

 regarding it: 



" Permit me to ])ropose the name .Menthaceae for tlii^ mint family as tlii' most suit- 

 able substitute for the name Tiabiatae, given it by I?ernard Jussieu in Hort. Trianon, 

 1759, and used by most botanists since that date, but which lias not the proper ter- 

 mination and is not formed from the name of any genus of the family. Being based 

 on Mentha, the most typical genus of the family, it has better claims, excei>t in the 

 matter of priority, than Lamiaceae (Lindley, 1836), Nepetaceae (Horaninow, 1843), 

 orSalviaceae (Drude, 1879)." 

 Mesosphaerum capitatum. 

 Family Menthaceae. 



Local NAMES. — Batunes (Guam) ; Marrubio-ljoton (Porto Rico); San Diego cim- 

 arron (Cuba). 

 A stout glabrescent weed growing to a height of 1.5 to 2 meters; leaves petioled, 

 ovate-oblong, jiointed, une(jually and coarsely serrate; floral leaves oblong-linear, at 

 length reflexed, shorter than the head; flowers sessile, capitate; heads globose, axil- 

 lary, shorter than their peduncles; calyx equally 5-toothed, teeth awl-shaped, 

 bristle-tipped, ei'ect at length one-third as long as the tube; corolla 2-lipped, inferior 

 lobe defiexed; stamens 4, deflexed; leaves 5 to 13 cm. long, peduncles 2.5 to 5 cm. 

 long; heads in fruit 20 to 25 mm. in diameter; nutlets devoid of a concave margin. 

 A weed of American origin, widely spread through the Tropics. 

 References: 



Mesosj>hacruiii capitnluiii (Jaccj.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 2: 525. 1891. 

 Hyptis capitata Jacq. Coll. 1: 102. 1786. 

 Mesosphaerum pectinatuni. 



Local names. — Alhucema (Cuba). 

 Slender, wand-like, puberulous or glal)rescent; leaves petioled, ovate, unequally 

 crenate-serrate (or serrate), hoary-pubescent beneath or glabrescent; floral leaves 

 bristle-like; flowers in one-sided, contracted, short, arched, recurved cymes; cymes 

 racemose or paniculate; calyx shortly pedicellate, 10-striate, subequal; tub" shortly 

 campanulate, densely villous at the truncate throat; teeth bristle-like, shorter than 

 the tube, suberect. 



A tropical weed; collected in Guam by Lesson and Gaudichaud. 

 References : 



Mesosphaerum pectinatian (L. ) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. 2: 525. 1891. 



Nepeta pectinata L. Syst. ed. 10. 1099. 1759. 



Hyptis pectinata Poit. Ann. Mus. Par. 7: 474. t. oO. 1806. 



Mexican creeper. See Anligonon leptopus. 



Mexican tea. See Clienopodinm ambrosioides. 



Mignonette tree (British West Indies). See Lawsonin inermh. 



Mil-leguas ((Juam, Philippines). See Telosiiut odoratissimu. 



Milkweed, Curasao. See Asclepias curassavica. 



