THE MINT FAMILY 401 



flowers in a clover-like flattish head: calyx slightly curved: corolla about 



1 in. long, purple. Common in dry places. 



M. didyma, Linn. Oswego tea. Bee balm. Stem 4-angled and branch- 

 ing: leaves petioled, shortly ovate to lanceolate, those about the terminal 

 head tinged with red: not very common wild, but cultivated. 



2. LYCOPUS. Water Hoarhound. 



Low perennials, with stolons or suckers, much like the mints (Mentha) 

 and growing in similar moist or shady places: not aromatic: flowers small, 

 white clustered in leaf axils: calyx bell-shaped, 4- to 5-toothed: corolla 

 campanulate, with 4 nearly equal lobes: fertile stamens 2, the other 2 rudi- 

 mentary or wanting: flowers small, white or purplish, bracted and whorled 

 in axillary clusters. 



L. virginicus, Linn. Stem 6 in. to 2 ft., obtusely 4-angled, green or 

 often purplish: stoloniferous: leaves oblong or ovate-lanceolate, serrate, 

 except at base, short-petioled or nearly sessile. In moist places. Summer 



3. SALVIA. Sage. 



Annuals or perennials, mostly with large and showy flowers: calyx and 

 corolla 2-lipped: upper lip of corolla large and usually arched, entire or 

 nearly so, the lower lip spreading and 3-lobed: stamens 2, short, the anther 

 locules separated by a transverse bar. 



S. officinalis, Linn. Common sage. Erect low perennial, with gray 

 pubescent foliage: leaves oblong-lanceolate, crenulate, very veiny: flowers 

 blue, in spiked whorls. Europe; used for seasoning. 



S. splendens, Sell. (S. cocclnea of gardens). Scarlet sage. Tender peren- 

 nial from Brazil, but much cultivated for its bright scarlet floral leaves, 

 calyx, and corolla: leaves ovate-pointed. 



4. HEDEOMA. Mock Pennyroyal. 



Low, aromatic-fragrant herbs, with small bluish flowers in loose axillary 

 clusters, often forming terminal racemes or spikes: calyx tubular, 13-nerved, 

 swollen on lower side, hairy in throat, 2-lipped; corolla 2-lipped, upper lip 

 erect, flat, emarginate, the lower spreading and 3-cleft, 2 perfect stamens; 



2 shorter sterile stamens sometimes present. 



H. pulegioides, Pers. Small animals of pungent fragrance and taste, 

 with slender stem (i 12 in. tall, erect, branching, pubescent: leaves ovate 

 to oblong, about 1 in. long, few-toothed, petiolate: whorls few-flowered, the 

 corolla bluish, pubescent. In dry fields and woods. Summer. 



5. MENTHA. Mint. 



Low perennials: calyx with 5 similar teeth: corolla nearly or quite regu- 

 lar, 4-cleft: stamens 4, equal: flowers in heads or interrupted spikes, pur- 

 plish or white. 



M. piperita, Linn. Peppermint. Straggling, 1-3 ft. tall, the plant dark 

 colored (stems purplish): leaves ovate, oblong, or narrower, acute, sharply 

 serrate: flowers light purple, in thick spikes 1-3 in. long. Europe. 



