I.AUIAT.'E. 41 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Spring, early Suninicr. 



Stems veiT slender, creeping, mueli l)ranched; flowering shoots mostly 

 erect, 3 inches to 1 foot high. Leaves J to 1 .^ inches long, on stalks 

 generally exceeding their own length. Peduncle of the verticillasters 

 very short; pedicels shorter than the calyx. Bracteoles lanceolate- 

 subulate. Calyx :j^ to ;^ inch long, slightly dilated towards the base in 

 front; teeth shorter than the tube, recurved, variable in length and shape, 

 in some specimens nearly deltoid, and in others lanceolate-subulate, the 

 uppermost one longer than the others. Corolla very variable in size, 

 I to 1 inch long, p)U"pIish blue ; under lip variegated with wliite and dark 

 purple. Nucules ovoid, dark brown, very finely roughened with miimte 

 noints. Plant green, varying much in pubescence, but the subulate teeth 

 jre by no means confined to the more pubescent forms, nor the short 

 broad teeth to the more glabrous ones. 



French, Gh'chomc, Llcrre teirestre. German, EpheiihUiltrige Gxiulflrcle. 



This herb is bitter and aromatic ; when the leaves are rubbed they give out a slight 

 scent. It was formerlj- valued as an antiscorbutic, and until the reign of Hcniy VIII. 

 was commonly used for making beer. At the present time an infusion of the herb is 

 used as a substitute for tea in many places by the peasantry, and is by no means an 

 unwholesome drink. It had at one period a great reputation in numerous diseases, 

 more especially in pectoral complaints. It is called by the older English writers, 

 Ale-hoof, G ill-go-by-ground, Tun-hoof, and Cats'-foot. Gerardo says, " The women of 

 our northern parts do turn the herbc Ale-hoof into their ale ; but the reason thereof 

 I know not ; notwithstanding, without all controversic, it is most singular against the 

 griefes aforesaid ; being tunned up in ale and drunk, it also purgeth the head from 

 rheumaticke humours flowing from the braine." It is still sold in the London 

 herb shops, but its medicinal application is very limited, and it is no longer a remedy 

 recognised by physicians, having been superseded by others of greater certainty of 

 action. Jlixed with wine, it is said to take away the white specks which sometimes 

 are seen in the eyes of horses and cows, " the pinne and web or any griefe out of 

 the eyes of horse or cow, or any other heast, being squitted into the same with a 

 Bjringe." 



Tribk IV.— MONARDE/E. 



Corolla bilabiate ; upper lip vaulted. Stamens 2, parallel ; anthers 

 usually 1-celled, or with one of the cells separated from the other, 

 and sterile. 



GENUS VII L— SALVIA. Linn. 



Calyx bilabiate; upper lip entire or 3-toothed, the lower bifid. 

 Corolla bilabiate ; upper lip vaulted, entire or notched, the lower 

 one spreading, 3-lobed; the middle lobe of lower lip often notched. 

 Stamens 2 ; anther-cells separated by a long slender arched connective, 



Vol. VII. G 



