822 STACHYS. [CLASS XIV. ORDER t. 



move or less embracing tlie stem, or the lower ones with short footstalks 

 and tlie upper sessile, the margin obtusely or acutely serrated, paler on 

 the under side, and more or less thickly clothed with close soft woolly 

 pubescence. Inflorescence \evm\na.\ and axillary whorls of from six to 

 twelve sessile flowers. Calyx sub-campanulate, ribbed and hairy, the 

 teeth nearly equal, triangular at the base, with an awl-shaped bristle 

 point, the hairs mostly terminated in a gland. Corolla with a gradually 

 inflated tube, downy externally, upper lip concave, entire or notched, 

 the lower three-cleft, the lateral lobes ovate, entire, the middle oblong, 

 entire or notched, striated and spotted with dark purple and white. 

 Stamens curved beneath. Seeds smooth, shining, dark olive, ovate, 

 angular. 



Habitat. — Ditches, banks of rivers, wet fields, and marshy places, 

 frequent. 



Perennial ; flowering in August. 



The whole plant has, when bruised, a strong disagreeable odour, and 

 was formerly much esteemed as a vulnerare : old Gerarde says that 

 for the knowledge of its virtues he was indebted to a clown, hence he 

 gave the plant the common name of the Cloivn's Woundtoort. It is 

 said that the tender shoots, when blanched, form an excellent vegetable, 

 having somewhat the flavour of asparagus, but it is not cultivated. In 

 wet cultivated fields it is a very troublesome weed, and difiieult of 

 extirpation, on account of its long creeping suckers, which put out 

 stems from every joint that is left in the ground, and these forming 

 fleshy knobs upon them, enahle the plant to bear without injury for a 

 considerable length of time the drought of summer, when the soil 

 becomes dry, and incapable of supplying them with moisture. 



5. 5. arven'sis, Linn. (Fig. 949.) Corn Woundwort. Stem weak, 

 branched at the base, rough, with spreading hairs; leaves petiolate, 

 ovate, heart-shaped, obtuse, crenated, and slightly hairy ; whorls of six 

 flowers ; corolla scarcely longer than the calyx, which has lanceolate 

 bristle-pointed teeth. 



English Botany, t. 1 154. — English Flora, vol. iii. p. 101. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 233. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 205. 



Root of slender branched fibres. Stem weak, recumbent and 

 branched at the base, or erect and simple, angular, rough, with spread- 

 ing hairs, sometimes almost smooth. Leaves opposite, crenated, scat- 

 tered over with hairs, the lower ones ovate, obtuse, with a heart-shaped 

 base, and on footstalks, the upper nearly sessile, ovate, reflexed, 

 Lnjlorescenee whorls of about six sessile flowers, mcsily distant, some- 

 times crowded into a terminal spike. Calyx campanulate, ribbed and 

 veiny, hairy, the teeth nearly equal, large, lanceolate, bristle-pointed, 

 Corolla scarcely longer than the calyx, the tube cylindrical, the upper 

 lip short, ovate, obtuse, or slightly notched, the lower three-cleft, the 

 two lateral lobes ovate, the middle one roundish ovate, the palate white, 



