348 LABIATE. (MINT FAMILY.) 



fine close doum. (Brachvstemum verticillatum, Michx.) — Dry hills, Maine to 



Ohio, Kentucky, and southward. — Flowers in very dense clusters ; the outer 



hracts ovate-lanceolate and pointed, the others pointless. 



* * * * Calyx equally 5-toothed : flowers collected in dense and globular, often fas- 

 cicled, small and numerous heads, which are crowded in terminal corymbs: bracts 

 rigid, closely oppressed, shorter than the flowers: lips of the corolla very short: 

 leaves narrow, sessile, entire, rigid, crowded and clustered in the axils. 



8. P. lanceol&tum, Pursh. Smoothish or minutely pubescent (2° high); 

 leaves lanceolate or lance-linear, obtuse at the base; Jveads downy; calyx-teeth short 

 and triangular. — Dry thickets : not rare. 



9. P. Iinif61ium, Pursh. Smoother and leaves narrower and heads less 

 downy than in the last ; the narrower bracts and lance-awl-shaped calyx-teeth pun- 

 gently pointed. — S. New England to Illinois, and southward. 



***** Calyx equally 5-toothed : flowers collected in few and solitary large and 

 globular heads (terminal, and in the upper axils of t/ie membranaceous petioled 

 leaves) ; tlie bracts loose, ciliate-bearded. 



10. P. montanum, Michx. Stem (l°-3° high) and ovate- or oblong- 

 lanceolate serrate leaves glabrous ; bracts very acute or awl-pointed, the outer- 

 most ovate and leaf-like, the inner linear ; teeth of the tubular calyx short and 

 acute. — Alleghanies, from S. Virginia southward. — Flavor warm and pleas- 

 ant. Foliage and heads resembling Monarda. 



9. ORIGANUM, L. Wild Marjoram. 



Calyx ovate-bell-shaped, hairy in the throat, striate, 5-toothed. Tube of the 

 corolla about the length of the calyx, 2-lipped ; the upper lip rather erect and 

 slightly notched ; the lower longer, of 3 nearly equal spreading lobes. Stamens 

 4, exserted, diverging. — Perennials, with nearly entire leaves, and purplish 

 flowers crowded in cylindrical or oblong spikes, imbricated with colored bracts. 

 (An ancient Greek name, said to be composed of opos, a mountain, and ydvos, 

 delight.) 



1. O. vulgare, L. Upright, hairy, corymbose at the summit ; leaves peti- 

 oled, round-ovate ; bracts ovate, obtuse, purplish. — Dry banks : scarce. June- 

 Oct. (Nat. from Eu.) 



10. THYMUS, L. Thyme. 



Calyx ovate, 2-lipped, 13-nerved, hairy in the throat; the upper lip 3-toothed, 

 spreading ; the lower 2-cleft, with the awl-shaped divisions ciliate. Corolla 

 short, slightly 2-lipped ; the upper lip straight and flattish, notched at the apex ; 

 the lower 3-cleft. Stamens 4, straight and distant, usually exserted. — Low per- 

 ennials, with small and entire strongly-veined leaves, and purplish or whitish 

 flowers. (The ancient Greek name of the Thyme, probably from 6va>, to burn 

 perfume, because it was used for incense.) 



1. T. Serpyllum, L. (Creeping Thyme.) Prostrate; leaves green, flat, 

 ovate, entire, short-petioled, flowers crowded at the end of the branches. — Old 

 fields, Eastern New England and Pennsylvania: rare. (Adv. from Eu.) The 

 Garden Thyme is T. vulgaris, L. 



