CLASS XIV. ORDER I.] LEONURUS. 825 



GENUS XIV. LEONU'RUS— Linn. Molherwort. 



Nat. Ord. Laiuat'e^. Jiss. 



Gen. Char. Calyx ovale, five to ten ribljed, witli five spreading 



awned teeth. Corolla with llie upper lip concave, »ery hairy, the 



lower one three-cleft, or entire, acute, the tube with a hairy ring 



internally. — Name from Xeojp, a /ion ,• and ot^^a, a tail; from the 



fancied resemblance of the flowering branches to a lion's tail. 



1. L. cardia'ca, Linn. (Fig. 952.) Molherxvort. Stem erect ; leaves 



petiolaled, the lower ones deeply five lobed and toothed, the upper 



lanceolate, entire ; calyx smooth, the teeth spreading, pungent. 



English Botany, t. 286. — English Flora, vol. iii. p. 105. — Hooker, 

 British Flora, ed. 4. vol. i. p. 230. — Lindley, Synopsis, p. 204. 



Stem erect, from two to three feet high, simple or branched 

 quadrangular, furrowed, the angles downy, hollow. Leaves opposite, 

 on slender downy footstalks, the lower ones deeply five lobed, and 

 unequally and deeply toothed, the upper ones three lobed and entire, 

 or nearly so, the uppermost entire, lanceolate, dark gretn, and nearly 

 smooth above, paler and thickly clothed with close soft do«n beneath- 

 Inflorescence axillary whorls of numerous crowded sessile flowers. 

 Calyx ovate, smooth, ribbed, contracted at the mouth, the teeth equal, 

 spreading, angular at the base, terminating in an awl-shaped pungent 

 point. Bracteas awl-shaped, pungent. Corolla tube about as long as 

 the calyx tube, white or pale pink, the lips deeper pink, the upper one 

 oblong, obtuse, concave, entire, woolly, the lower one spotted with deep 

 crimson, three lobed, entire, the middle one rather longer than the 

 others. Stamens curved beneath the upper lip. Anthers roundish 

 oblong, incumbent. 



Habitat. — About hedges and waste places in various parts of 

 England, but not common ; Stirling Castle, and about Edinburgh, 

 Scotland; between Foaty and Cork, Ireland. — Mr. J. Drummond. 

 Perennial ; flowering in August. 



The leaves of Motherwort have a disagreeable smell and a bitter 

 taste : it was formerly in great reputation as a tonic and diuretic, and 

 said to be serviceable in disorders of the stomachs of children, hence 

 probably has arisen its common name of Motherwort, and from its 

 reputation as a remedy for the cure of heartburn it has received the 

 specific name of Cardiaca. It is not now used, except by country 

 people, in whose gardens it may be occasionally found. 



