32 



at base, linear-lanceolate, pointed, entire or often un- 

 equally toothed, hoary beneath, penninerved. Floral 

 leaves awl-shaped. Flowers whorled, spiked. Spikes 

 cylindrical, subsolitary. Calyx tomentose. Corolla 

 white. Stamens longer than the corolla. 



Like other Mints, this one contains an ethereal oil, which 

 is sharp and bitter to the taste. It grows plentifully in 

 moist mountainous regions, and is valued as a most excel- 

 lent antispasmodic and carminative. It is used in the form 

 of infusion in flatulent colic, meteorism, cardialgia, hysteria, 

 and amenorrhoea, and externally to sugillations, glandular 

 swellings, indurations, or similar complaints. 



SALVIA. LiJ.\ 



{LabiatcB,) 

 II. — 1. DIANDKIA MONOGYNIA. LIN. SYST. 



73. Salvia africana. Lin. Stem shrubby, erect, 

 2 feet high, scabrid, very branchy. Branches divari- 

 cating, four-edged, shaggy. Leaves decussate, stalked, 

 opposite, obovate, mucronate, serrate, wrinkled with 

 veins, truncate at base, green above, whitish beneath. 

 Leaf-stalks short, amplexicaul. Flowers in whorls, 

 terminal, bracteate, peduncled. Peduncles opposite, 

 short, hairy. Bracts 3-leaved, unequal. Whorls 4-6 

 flowered. Calyx campanulate villose. Corolla blue, 

 hairy, double as long as the calyx. Upper lip 3-lobed, 

 nearly entire, round ; lower 2-lobed ; lobes ovate, 

 acute. 



Like those of the common Sage, the leaves of this 

 species (known as the Wild Sage) are fragrant, astringent, 

 and bitter. They possess nearly the same medical pro- 

 perties as the Salvia officinalis , and are used in the same 

 way, and under similar circumstances. 



BALLOTA. Lin. 



{Labiates.) 



XIV. — 1. DIDYNAMIA GYMNOSPERMIA. LIN. SYST. 



74. Ballota africana. Benth. Shaggy. Stem 

 erect, one to a foot and a half high. Leaves stalked, 

 orbicular, cordate, irregularly notched. Flowers small, 



