234 DIDYNAMIA — GYMNOSPERMIa". \_iMeliUis. 



Cultivated fields, especially in a gravelly, sandy, or chalky soil : rare 

 in Scotland. Hills. North Queensferry. Z)/- TJcifar, Fl. Aiig.0. — Stem 

 6 — 8 inches long. Leaves sometimes almost entire. Flowers bluish- 

 ])iirple. Lower lip of the corolla with the middle segment emarginate. 

 Smell fragrant, aromatic. 



17. Calamintha. Mcench, Calamint. 



1. C. officinalis, Mcench, {common Calamitit); wliorls on fork- 

 ed niany-rtowered stalks, leaves with shallow serratures, hairs in 

 the mouth of the calyx not prominent. — 3Ielissa Calamintha, 

 L. — Thymus Calamintha, Scop. — E. Bot. t. 1676. 



Way-sides and borders of fields, chiefly in gravelly soils ; not unfre- 

 quent in England. South of Ireland. Fl. July, Aug. If. — Plant aro- 

 matic and employed to make Herb-Tea. 



2. C. Nepeta, Pursh, (lesser Calatnint); whorls on forked 

 many-flowered stalks longer than the adjoining leaf, leaves ser- 

 rated, hairs in the mouth of the calyx prominent. — Melissa Ne- 

 peta, L. — Thymus Nepeta, E. Bot. t. 1414. 



Dry banks and way-sides, on a chalky soil, in England; plentiful. FL 

 Aug. 1/. — " Rather smaller in all its parts than the last; especially 

 the leaves, which are more strongly serrated. Odour strong, resem- 

 bling Mentha Pulegium. The prominent white hairs in the mouth of 

 the calyx distinguish this from the preceding." Sm. — I fear this can 

 hardly be considered really distinct from C. ojfficin. My specimens of 

 the two from the Rev. Prof. Hensloiv, gathered in Cambridgeshire, 

 show that the serratures of the leaves and the hairs in the cali/x are 

 often the same in both. 



{Melissa officinalis is found apparently wild, by the Rev. J. C. Col- 

 lins, about Bridgewater.) 



18. Clinopodium. Linn. Wild Basil. 



1. C. vtdffdre, L. (Wild Basil); leaves ovate obscurely ser- 

 rated, whorls hairy, bracteas setaceous, pedicels branched. E, 

 Bot. t. 1041. 



Hills and dry bushy places, not nncommon. Fl. Aug. If. — One to 

 a foot and a half high, with soft hairs. Flowers in crowded whorls, 

 large, purple. Smell aromatic. 



19. Melittis. Linn. Bastard- Balm. 



1. M. Melissopliyllum, L. (Bastard Balm); leaves oblongo- 

 ovate or somewhat cordate, upper lip of the calyx with 2 or 3 

 teeth — a. leaves oblongo-ovate, middle lobe of the lower lip 

 purple with a white margin — M. Melissophi/llum, L. Sp. PL 



— M. grandiflora, E. Bot. t. 6136, (excl. sy7i. of Curtis) /S. 



leaves broader subcordate, flowers reddish, the lower lip mostly- 

 spotted with purple. M. Melissophyllum, E. Bot. t. 577. 



Woods, coppices and hedges in the south (Hampshire) and particu- 

 larly the south-west of England ; exclusively. Fl. May, June. 1^ 



A most beautiful plant, a foot to a foot and a half high, with ample 

 serrated leaves, and large, conspicuous, often highly coloured _/?o;<w*; 

 but in the colour of the inflorescence, in the relative breadth of the 



