LABIATJE. 



205 



ROSMARINUS, L. ( lloseiiuiry, Dew of the Sea.) Calyx bell-shaped, 

 slightly compressed, -1-lipped, upper lip concave, iiiiimtely 3-toothed, 

 lower birid, naked within ; corolla gai)ing, downy, pale-blue, variegated 

 with purple and white, tube longer than the calyx, upper lip erect and 

 shortly bitid, the lower spreading and slit into three segments, the 

 middle segment larger, concave, and declined; perfect stamens 2, 

 longer than the upper lip, arched, bearing a flexed tooth above the 

 base, supporting the blue oblong anther; style as long as the stamens, 

 thread-like, 2-cleft, the posterior lobe small ; nutlets, 1 at the bottom 

 of the calyx. Shrub. Leaves narrow and entire. Floral leaves 

 smaller. Only 1 species. 



R. officinalis, L. (Rosemary.) Stem erect, 4 feet high, inueh-hranched; 

 branches hairy ; braiichlets 4-sided aud dowuy. Leaves opposite, nearly sessile, 

 au inch long, narrow, 

 linear, obtuse, entire, 

 revolute, dark-green, 

 smooth aud shining 

 above, woolly, veined, 

 and silvery beneatli. 

 Flowers axillary and 

 terminal, blue. Both 

 flowers aud leaves have 

 a strong odor, resem- 

 l)ling camphor. A beau- 

 tiful evergreen shrub. 



Var. variegata, W., 

 has variegated leaves. 

 This, with otlier varie- 

 ties, are under cultiva- 

 tion ; but the K. offici- 

 nalis is highly valuable 

 for other purpose.^. 



Geographi/. — The 

 rosemary is no doubt 

 native in all southern 

 Europe. It is found 



without cultivation on the Greek islands in the Peloponnesus, and is under 

 cultivation from western Europe to Japan, in the southern parts of the north 

 temperate zone. It is a favorite in the gardens of Egypt, and is cultivated 

 in Hindustan for medicinal purposes. As no native name is found for it 

 in Asia, it is inferable that it has been introduced iuto those countries by 

 Europeans. 



Eti/inolot/i/. — Rosmarinus is compounded of the Latin words ros, "dew," 

 and 7uariiiits, " of the sea," — dew of the sea, or sea-dew. Ojficinalis, Latin, 

 means " of tlie shops." Varieguta, Latin, means " variegated." Rosemarg is 

 without doubt a corruption of rosniarhms. 



History. — When it was introduced into use is not known, but it was 

 known to the ancients, Dioscorides, Pliny, Galen, and the Arabic physicians. 

 It was known to the Saxons before the Norman conquest, and no doubt 

 cultivated by them iu England. Charleniiign*' I'l-lered it planted in his 



Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemarj-). 



