labiatjt;. 7 



jvcuto, finely serrate, hoary pubescent above, densely feltcd-liairy and 

 wliito iK'ueath. Spikes short and thick. 



In damp and waste {)laces. Rather rare, but widely distributed ; var. 

 3 apparently the most frequent form; var. y rare: at Acle, Norfolk ; 

 AUanton, lier^\ackshire ; and Sidlaw Hills, Forfarshire. 



England, Scotland, Ireland ( ?). Perennial. Autumn. 



A variable plant, with the stem 2 to 3 feet high, more or less covered 

 with white wool, much less branched than in M. rotundifolia and 

 M. alopecuroides. Leaves varying in breadth, li to 3 inches long. 

 Spikes panicled, seldom aggregated at the apex of the stem, except in 

 var. mollissima. Flowers larger than in j\I. rotundifolia, pale lilac; 

 bracts and calyx teeth much longer. The leaves are not rugose, as in 

 the two preceding sj^ecies, and are generally whiter beneath, and with 

 shorter and stifler pubescence than in ^1 . alopecuroides. 



Common Horse Mint. 



French, Menihe sauvage. German, Waldmirize. 



This species possesses somewhat of the odour of the genus which, in olden times, 

 was so much esteemed as a perfume. Our modem tastes are not so partial to these 

 rustic perfumes as wore those of our forefathers. We read in Browne's " Pastorals " 

 of a friend being told 



" To convey him from liis room 

 To a field of yellow broom. 

 Or into the meadows, where 

 Mint perfumes the gentle air." 



The generic term Mhif seemed, with the older writers, to include many sweet- 

 scented plants, especially such as we now find in the cuhnaiy department of a herb 

 garden. We recall the lines : — 



" Here's flowers for you ; 

 Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram, 

 The marigold that goes to bed with the .sun, 

 And with him rises weeping : these are flowers 

 Of middle summer." 



SPECIES IV.-ME NT HA VI RID IS. Lhm. 



Plate MXXIII. 



Balrr, Joum. Bot. 186-5, p. 239. Sole, Brit. Mints, p. 2, PI. V. 



M. sylvestris, var. ?, glabra. Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ, et Helv. Vol. 11. p. 633. 



Leaves subsessile, oblong-elliptical or elliptical-lanceolate, rounded 

 or subcordate at the base, acute, sharply serrate, not rugose, the ulti- 

 mate anastomosing veins being only slightly impressed, glabrous above 

 and below, or with hairs only on the midrib and principal veins beneath. 



