CLASS XIV. ORDER I. 253 



fences and buildings. Its name is derived from the great par- 

 tiality of cats for the odor of the plant. Stem two or three feet 

 high, square and downy. Leaves long-heart shaped, serrate, pale 

 underneath, covered with soft down. Calyx ribbed. Corolla 

 tubular, upper lip straight, lower lip with the middle lobe spread- 

 ing, crenate, elegantly dotted. — July. — Perennial. 



263. BRACHYSTEMUM. 

 Brachystemum Virginicum. Mich. Virginia Thyme. 



Stem erect, somewhat pubescent ; leaves lanceolate 

 or linear, entire, smooth ; heads somewhat fascicled. 

 Mich abr. 

 Syn. Thymus Virginicus. L. 



An erect plant with fastigiate branches. Stem square, downy 

 at the angles. Leaves opposite, rigid, very narrow, rounded at 

 base, and tapering to a long, acute point. Under a magnifier 

 they appear covered with fine, black dots. Flowers in numer- 

 ous small heads, mostly terminal. Calyxes downy. Corollas 

 white, dotted with purple. Taste like pennyroyal. — By fences 

 and woods. — July, August. — Perennial. 



264. PYCNANTHEMUM. 

 Pycnanthemum incanum. 3Iich. Wild Basil. 



Stem pubescent : leaves petioled, oval, acuminate, 

 serrate, white-downy; heads compound, tenninal and 

 lateral ; bractes setaceous. Mich. abr. 

 Syn. Clinopodium incanum. L. 



A white looking plant, covered with soft down. Stem one or 

 two feet high, covered with soft down, especially toward the top. 

 Leaves oval, pointed, with a few remote serratures on the sides, 

 soft and velvet-like; white underneath. Flowers on white, 

 branching footstalks, in lateral and terminal whorls or heads. 

 Bractes numerous, white, the inner ones setaceous. Corollas 

 projecting, pale, spotted with purple. — Woods and mountains. — 

 July, August. — Perennial. 

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