54 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



bilabiate ; tube short or elongated ; upper lip generally shorter 

 than the lower, upper lip erect, vaulted ; lower lip spreading; 

 3-lobed, the middle lobe larger, entire or notched. Stamens 4 ; fila- 

 ments subparallel under the upper Hp of the corolla ; anthers approxi- 

 mate in pairs; anther-cells joined at the apex and divergent in a 

 nearly straight line, opening by a common longitudinal cleft, rarely 

 subparallel. Nucules rounded at the apex. 

 Herbs or undershrubs of various habit. 



The name of this genus of plants comes from the Greek word aruxvi (stachus), a 

 spike, from the form of its stalk and leaves. 



Sub-Genus I.— BETONICA. Linn. 



Anther-cells subparallel. Flowers crowded into short terminal 

 Bpikes ; aU the verticillasters except the lowest with the bracts small, 

 not resembling the leaves. 



SPECIES I.-ST AC HYS BETONICA. Beuth. 



Plate MLXVII. 



BeicTi. Ic. n. Germ, et Helv. Vol. II. Tab. MCCXYH. 



Tiillot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 1745. 



B-etonica officialis, Liwn. Sm. Eng. Bot. No. 1142. Hook. & Am. Brit. Fl. ed. viii. 



p. 334. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. ed. ii. p. (354. Gren. & Godr. Fl. de Fr. 



Vol. n. p. 695. Fries, Summ. Veg. Scand. p. 14. 



Rootstock somewhat woody, without elongated creeping stolons. 

 Stem wiiy, erect (rarely decumbent), simple or rarely with a single 

 pair of branches. Radical leaves in tufts, on long stalks, oblong 

 or triangular-oblong, cordate, obtuse, crenate; stem leaves sessile, 

 oblong or strapshaped-oblong, acute, crenate-serrate or serrate; all 

 rugose. Lowest pair of bracts resembling the leaves; bracteoles 

 lanceolate-acuminate, as long as the calyx. "Verticillasters contracted 

 into an oblong spike, with the lowest verticillaster often separate. 

 Calyx glabrous or subglabrous, except at the throat ; teeth as long as 

 the tube, deltoid, abruptly acuminated into subulate, spinescent. 

 Corolla tube usually twice as long as the calyx, much longer than all 

 the bracts, except the pair at the base of the spike. Plant green, 

 hairy or subglabrous. 



On heaths, in woods, thickets, and by roadsides. Rather common, 

 and generally distributed in England. Rare in Scotland, and not 

 extending north of Dupplin and Dunkeld in Perthshire and the 

 neighbourhood of Glasgow. Rather rare in Ireland, and not found in 

 the north-west of the island. 



