BKtJNELLA VULGARIS. 181 



"What is the form of the bracts ? color of the flower ? 

 form of corolla ? upper lip ? lower lip ? number of the 

 stamens ? construction ? which the longer pair ? append- 

 age of the filament ? 5th stamen ? How many styles are 

 there ? what are the kind and form of the fruit ? 



Observe that the leaves are rather obtuse than acute ; that 

 the broad bracts are palmi-veined and tipped with a cusp 

 (cuspidate), and the hairs are jointed. 



Inflorescence. The flowers occur in 3s, each triplet 

 occupying the axil of a bract, and the middle flower open- 

 ing first according to the centrifugal mode. Such a cluster 

 is a cyme. Many such, with their bracts, are closely imbri- 

 cated, forming a dense terminal, 4-sided spike, (for the flow- 

 ers are sessile). 



The Flowers. The calyx is colored, bell-form (cam- 

 panulate], 2-lipped, the upper lip truncate (square-cut), with 

 3 small teeth, the lower lip 2-cleft. In the corolla, observe 

 the vaulted or concave upper lip, covering the stamens and 

 style, the lower, 3-lobed, dependent lip, and the ring ob- 

 structing the tube within near the base. * The longer pair 

 of stamens is the lower (outer), and a spur or tooth appears 

 on each filament above near the 2-parted anther. Four egg- 

 shaped achenia are at length found in the bottom of the 

 calyx, as in Nepeta. 



The Name in science is Brunella vulgaris ; Brunella, 

 from the German braeun, the quinsy ; this plant being a 

 reputed remedy for this disease ; vulgaris, common ; since 

 it grows in nearly every country on the globe. 



Classification. Nepeta and Brunella are now seen to 

 be closely related. Features which they possess in common 



* In the labiate flowers it is noticeable how the lower lip is arranged for the con- 

 venience of insects alighting, and how all the flowers are so grouped as to give this 

 doorstep the utmost prominence. 



