MENTHA MINT. 207 



Speedwell has been considered diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, etc., 

 but is seldom employed, and probably possesses very little medicinal 

 virtue. 



LABIAT/E. 



Character of the Order. — Herbs, rarely undershrubs, with square stems, 

 and opi^osite, exstipulate leaves. Calyx tubular, 5- to 10-toothed or 2- 

 lipped, persistent. Corolla more or less 2-lij)ped ; the upper lip 2-lobed, or 

 sometimes entire ; the lower 3-lobed. Stamens 4, didynamous, or by abor- 

 tion 2, inserted on the tube of the corolla. Ovary deeply 4-lobed ; style 2- 

 lobed at the apex. Fruit 4 seed-like nutlets or achenia, enclosed in the 

 calyx. 



Foliage commonly dotted with glands containing aromatic volatile oil. 

 Flowers axillary, chiefly in cymose clusters, and these frequently aggre- 

 gated in terminal spikes or racemes. 



A very large order of aromatic plants, wholly destitute of deleterious 

 or poisonous properties. Very many of them have been cultivated for 

 culinary or medicinal purposes from time immemorial, hence a large per- 

 centage of the valuable species at present inhabiting North America have 

 iDeen introduced. 



TEUCRIUM. — Geumander. 



Teucrium Canadense Linnu. — American Germander, Wood-Sage. 



Description. — Calyx oblique, unequally 5-toothed. Corolla with the 4 

 upper lobes nearly equal, oblong, turued forward ; the lower much larger. 

 Stamens 4, exserted from a cleft between the two uj^per lobes of the corolla. 



An herbaceous perennial. Stem ei*ect, 1 to 3 feet high. Leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute, serrate, rounded at the base, petiolate ; the upper ones 

 scarcely longer than the calyx. Both stem and leaves hoary-pubescent. 

 Flowers joale purple to white, in whorls of about G, crowded in a long sim- 

 ple raceme ; they appear about midsummer. 



Habitat. — In low ground from Canada to Florida. 



Parts Used. — The herb — not official. 



Constituents. — A volatile oil, a bitter principle, and tannin. 



Preparations. — Commonly employed in infusion. 



Medical Proi^erties and Uses. — Germander, both American and Euroi^ean 

 species, possesses the stimulant and aromatic properties of labiate i:)lants 

 generally, and has been employed as a diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, 

 «tc. 



MENTHA.— :Mint. 



Character of the Genus.— Calyx 5-toothed, regular or nearly so. Corolla 

 bell-shaped, with a short tube, the margin nearly equally 4-lobed. Stamens 

 4, erect, equidistant. 



