(38 LETTER XXXII. 



four feet high, rather closely covered with opposite 

 lance-shaped leaves, which are always more or less 

 hairy, and occasionally, even hoary. As the leaves 

 approach the upper end of the stem, they become 

 smaller, and at length form in their axils two or three 

 flowers, of the follow ing structure. The calyx is tubu- 

 lar, and pale green, with a red border ; it has twelve 

 strongly marked streaks, or veins, traversing it in a 

 nearly parallel direction, and it is divided at the edge 

 into twelve little teeth, six of which are short and broad, 

 and six much narrower and longer {Plate XXXII. 1. 

 jiy. 2. & 3.) The petals are six in number, narrow, 

 blunt, crumpled, and light purple [jig. '2.). Twelve 

 stamens spring from near the bottom of the calyx, in 

 two rows ; one row is shorter than the calyx, the other 

 much lono'er (Jig. 3.), and both are curved tow ards one 

 side of the flower. The ovary {Jig. 4.) is superior, and 

 has two cells, in each of which are many minute seeds, 

 covering a central placenta {Jig- 5.) ; the style is slen- 

 der, and a little longer than the stamens, in the direc- 

 tion of which it is curved ; the stigma is a round 

 velvety little cushion. When the fruit is ripe, it is 

 closely covered by the dried calyx (Jig. 6.), and is a 

 capsule of two cells opening at the end, and bearing on 

 each valve one half of the style {Jig. 6. a.). The seeds 

 {fig. ?.) are plano-convex, sharp-pointed at the base, 

 and contain an embryo without albumen (Jig. 8.). 



This structure is remarkable in many respects ; in 

 the first place, the striated calyx, and the square stem, 

 both unusual circumstances, are analogous to what we 

 find in the Labiate Tribe, which resembles the Ly- 



