MINT FAMILY. Labiatae 



There are several kinds of Prunella, 



Self-heal widely distributed, but this is the only one 



Prunella vulgbns . 



Purple common in this country and is probably 



Spring, summer, not native. It is abundant in dampish 

 autumn places, in the far West often staying green 



Across the a ^ wm t e r, a perennial, sometimes hairy, 



continent 



from two inches to over a foot high. The 



leaves, often obscurely toothed, have leaf -stalks and the 

 small flowers are crowded in a series of whorls, with pur- 

 plish bracts and forming a spike or head. The calyx is two- 

 lipped, with five teeth and often purplish, and the corolla is 

 purple, pink, or occasionally white, with an arched upper 

 lip, a spreading, three-lobed lower lip, and four stamens, 

 under the upper lip of the corolla, the lower pair longer. 

 This is usually not pretty, but in favorable situations in 

 the West is often handsome, with brighter-colored, larger 

 flowers. The name, often spelled Brunella, is said to 

 be derived from an old German word for an affection of the 

 throat, which this plant was supposed to cure. There is a 

 picture in Mr. Mathews' Field Book. 



There are many kinds of Stachys, widely distributed; 

 herbs, often hairy, with a disagreeable smell ; the calyx with 

 five, nearly equal teeth ; the corolla with a narrow tube, the 

 upper lip erect, the lower lip spreading and three-lobed, the 

 middle lobe longest; the stamens four, in pairs, usually 

 under the upper lip of the corolla. 



This is a handsome plant, with a stout, 

 Hedge Nettle . 



St&chys cili&ta r U S h ' haiI T stem ' OVer tw feet tal1 ' and 



Magenta very bright green leaves, which are thin in 



Spring, summer texture but velvety. The flowers are in 

 whorls, making a large cluster, and have a 

 purplish calyx, smooth or with a few stiff hairs, and a 

 corolla about an inch long, deep pink or magenta, some- 

 times spotted with white inside. Though the flowers are 

 rather crude in color, they contrast finely with the bright 

 green foliage. S. coccinea is a very handsome kind, with 

 a tubular scarlet corolla, and grows in the mountain 

 canyons oi Arizona. 



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