50 ENGLISH BOT^v^•y. 



Rootstock somewhat woody, shortly ci-eeping, with numerous A\'iry 

 fibres. Stem erect, 8 inches to 2 feet higfc. Leaves rather shortly 

 stalked, ovate or oval-ovate or elliptical-ovate, rounded at the base,taper- 

 iiif towards the apex, coarsely crenate-serrate. Bracts undistinguish- 

 able I'rom the leaves. Flowers solitary or in pairs or threes in the axils 

 of the bracts, shortly stalked, secund. Pedicels shorter than the calyx. 

 Calyx pale green, ^ inch long, campanulate, 2-lipped ; the uj)per lip entire 

 or with 2 or 3 teeth, the lower lip with 2 teeth. Corolla 1^ to 1^ inches 

 long, the tube scarcely dilated upwards; limb spreading, the lower lip 

 longer than the upper, but shorter than the tube ; the upper lip slightly 

 concave ; the colour pink or cream colour externally, the inside white or 

 cream colour, the lower lip blotched with jjurplish red. Plant deep 

 green, the stem pubescent with long spreading hairs, the leaves very 

 thinly hairy above, glabrous beneath, except on the veins. Leaves 

 somewhat like those of ^lercurialis ]:)erennis. 



ISi. grandiflora of Smith is only a slight variation with differently 

 coloured flowers. The number of lobes in the calyx is liable to vary 

 even on the same individual. 



Bastard Balm. 



Frencli, Mellssc I'fs hm's. German, melissenhliittrlge Biensauge. 

 This plant is elegant, and is occasionally admitted into gardens, tbougli of an 

 unpleasant smell when fresh. When dried it becomes very fragrant. 



GENUS A7/.-MARRUBIUM. L{?in. 



Calyx tubular, scarcely enlai'ging in fruit, nearly regular, not bila- 

 biate ; limb ascending or at length spreading, of 5 teeth, spinous- 

 pointed, often with 5 smaller intermediate ones. Corolla bilabiate ; 

 tube short ; upper lip erect, nearly flat, entire or shortly bifid, usually 

 longer than the lower; lower lip spreading, 3-cleft, middle lobe 

 broader, notched. Stamens 4 ; filaments subparallel under the upper 

 side of the corolla-tube, but not reaching to the upper lip ; anther-cells 

 joined at the apex and divergent in a straight line, opening by a 

 common longitudinal slit. Nucules abruptly truncate at the apex. 



Herbs often woolly, -with rugose leaves, which are usually rounded 

 or wedgeshaped at the base, mostly serrate. Bracts similar to the 

 leaves. Verticillasters many-flowered, often spherical, with subulate 

 herbaceous bracts. 



This genus of plants, according to one author, is named from a town in Italy where 

 it abounds. Another gives us the words mara, bitter, and rtihf, a Celtic name for a 

 root, as the origin. 



