456 THE MINT FAMILY. 



iousness to mosquitoes. Children pull and carry about bunches of 

 protect them from these insects. 



It to 



CALAfllNT. 



Clin opbdiiun cocci'n eu7n . 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Mint. Scarlet. Fragrant. Western Florida. August. 



Flozvei-s : showy, growing solitary, or ia clusters of three in the axils. Ca/yx : 

 tubular; somewhat swollen at the base and hairy in the throat; two-lipped the 

 upper one arched, the lower one divided into two sharp-pointed teeth. Corolla: 

 long; tubular; two-lipped, the upper lip notched at the apex, the lower one three- 

 cleft' spreading, the central lobe notched and delicately spotted with a darker 

 colour. Stanuns: four; the longer pair exserted. Style: exserted ; two-cleft. 

 Leaves: small, about one-half inch long, almost sessile, oval, or obovate-oblong, 

 blunt at the apex and tapering at the base; mostly entire, bright green; glabrous. 

 A shrub about two feet high ; smooth, or minutely pubescent. 



Although more than usually a smooth shrub, we notice that this calamint's 

 outer bark is loose and much inclined to peel in shreds. The plant is also 

 very leafy and grows in a branching way mostly in sandy soil. The bright, 

 scarlet colouring of the flowers makes them unusually gay-looking. Few of 

 us perhaps w^ould instinctively connect their appearance with bed castors, but 

 a likeness in the contour of certain members of the genus to that of the 

 castor has provoked the Greek name. More familiar ones are sometimes 

 called basils. The true plant of that name, however, which inspired the poets 

 is a native of the East Indies. 



C. Carolmia7ia, Carolina calamint, extends from Florida as far northward 

 as North Carolina and grows as a shrub to, at most, two feet high. Its leafy 

 branches are ascending and covered with a close pubescence ; while the 

 white or purplish fragrant flowers are produced, from one to six, in the leaf 

 axils. Conspicuous about their corollas is the dotting of the lower lip's 

 rounded lobes with a dark colour. 



HOARY MOUNTA!N=MINT. WILD BASIL. 



KocUia i7icd?ia. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Mint. Pur/>lish-lavender, Fragrant. Florida to Maine July-October, 



or ivhite. and ivestivard. 



Flowers : small; numerous; growing in loose, axillary and terminal cymose 

 clusters, their bracts being linear and pointed and covered with a white pubescence. 

 Calyx: two-lipped, the teeth awl-shaped and bearded. Corolla: two-lipped, 

 dotted with deep violet. Stamens : four, exserted. Leaves: with very downy, 

 short petioles ; ovate, or ovate-lanceolate, pointed at the apex and rounded or 

 wedge-shaped at the base, sharply serrate ; bright green and slightly pubescent 

 above, covered underneath with a white, velvety tomentum, the upper leaves often 

 appearing the same on both sides, and smaller ones occurring in the axils. Stems : 

 two to four feet high ; erect, branched ; densely pubescent above. 



