4 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



SPECIES I— MENTHA ROTU N DIPO LI A. Linn. 



Plate JIXX. 



Beich. Le. Fl. Germ, el Helv. Vol. XVIIl. Tab. MCCLXXXII. 



Billot, Fl. Gall, et Germ. Exsicc. No. 605. Bcd-er, Joura. of Bot. 1865, p. 235. 



M. sylvestris, Sole, British Mints, p. '/, Pi. 111. 



Leaves sessile or subsessile, oval or ovate-oval, cordate, obtuse or 

 sub-obtu.se, crenate-serrate or serrate, rugose, irom the veins being all 

 impressed above and prominent beneath, sjiaringly hairy above, 

 felted Avith short arachnoid wool beneath. Spikes conico cylindrical, 

 dense. Bracts ovate, acuminate; bracteoles lanceolate, acuminate, about 

 as long as the flowers. Pedicels hairy. Calyx oblong-campanulate, 

 bristly-hairy ; teeth narrowly triangular, half as long as the tube. 

 Corolla scarcely half as long again as the calyx, hairy Avithout, 

 glabrous within. 



In damp places. Rather rare, and probably not native in many of its 

 stations. It is certamly indigenous in the south of England ; abundant 

 on the south side of the Isle of Wight. In Scotland I have gathered it 

 abundantly on the banks of the Esk above Musselburgh, but in the 

 company of plants certainly not native. In Ireland it is widely 

 distributed, and apparently truly wild in the south. 



England, [Scotland,] Ireland. Perennial. Autumn. 



Rootstock extensively creeping and stoloniferous, as in most of the 

 species of tliis genus. Stem stout, erect or decumbent, 1 to 3 feet high, 

 solid, quadrangular, much branched. Leaves 1 to 3 inches long, very 

 broad, somewhat resembling those of sage, usually quite sessile, at least 

 on the main stems. Spikes solitary at the extremities of the branches, 

 and 3 to 5 often agglomerated at the extremity of the main stem; the 

 primary one 1 i to 3 inches long, continuous or interrupted at the base ; 

 the whole arranged hi a panicle. Lowest bracts subfoliaceous, but 

 much smaller than any of tlie loaves, the upper ones minute, not exceed- 

 ing the open flowers. Pedicels short, bristly-hairy. Calyx teeth slightly 

 unequal. Corolla J, inch long, white or pale blush. Stamens mcluded 

 or more commonly exserted, purplish. Nucules ovate-ovoid, thickly 

 sprinkled with resinous dots. Plant dull green, leaves often whitish 

 and arachnoid beneath, odour strong. 



A form with the leaves variegated with white is common in gardens. 

 Tliis has the leaves less felted beneath, less rugose, and frequently 

 more distinctly stalked, so that it forms a connecting link Avith the suc- 

 ceeding species, but it has the short calyx-teeth of M. rotundilblia. 



Round-leaved Mint. 



French, ifeiifJie afeullles rondes. German, rundhldltrlije Minzc. 

 Dr. Withering tells us that Mr. Sole states this species to be the true Mcnthustnmi 



