MINT FAMILY 



LABIATAE 



STONEROOT. RICHWEED 



Collinsonia canadensis L. 



This peculiar Mint, variously called Stoneroot, Richweed and 

 Horse Balm, is distributed among three species, all confined 

 to eastern North America. Collinsonia canadensis is the only 



species in Illinois, scattered in 

 rich woodlands in the southern 

 half of the state. 



It is a tall, strongly aromatic 

 perennial with large, petioled, 

 ovate leaves that are coarsely 

 toothed. The stem is nearly smooth 

 and I >2-3K feet high. 



The flowers bloom from July to 

 September in loosely panicled, 

 terminal racemes. They are small, 

 with yellow corolla and green calyx 

 which is cup shaped, 2-lipped and 

 lo-nerved. Stamens are 2, with 

 sometimes 1 others rudimentary, 

 connected at the base of the fila- 

 ments by a woolly ring on the 

 corolla tube. The ov^ary is deeply 

 4-lobed and produces 4 smooth 

 nutlets. The fruiting calyx is en- 

 larged and strongly ribbed. 



The Beefsteak Plant, Perilla 

 Jrutescens (L.) Britton, has been 

 naturalized from eastern Asia, runs 

 wild along most watercourses in the 

 south and has made its way into 

 southern Illinois. It is a foliage plant whose stems and large toothed 

 leaflets constitute its chief beauty, as they are more or less purple, 

 and often conspicuously so. The latter are 3-6 inches long and nearly 

 as wide, broadly ovate, acuminate at the apex and narrowing into 

 long petioles, and coarsely toothed. The many-flowered 3-6-inch 

 racemes are terminal and axillary. The flowers are very small, pur- 

 plish white and inconspicuous, otten so uncommon that mountaineers 

 insist that the plant does not bloom. The odor is very disagreeable 

 and like that of some of the true bugs. 



292 



