41S THE LABIATE FAMILY. 



3. Hedge Calamint. Calamintlia Clinopodium, Eentli. 

 {C/inopodmm vulgare, Eng. Bot. t. 1401. Wild Basil.) 



KootstOL'k sliortly creeping. Sterna annual, erect or ascending, branclied, 

 and softly hairy, 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves stalked, ovate, slightly toothed, 

 almost 2 inches long, soft and hau-y. JTlowers purple, in dense cymes, 

 forming compact whorls or heads in tlie axils of the upper leaves, or at the 

 ends of the branches, and surrounded by subulate, hairy bracts. Calyx 

 about 3 hnes long, vrith subulate, hah-y teeth, the 3 upper ones shortly 

 united by their broad base. Tube of the coroUa rather longer than the 

 calyx- teeth. 



Under hedges, and on the borders of woods, throughout Europe and 

 Kussian Asia, except the extreme north. Rather frequent in England, Ire- 

 land, and southern Scotland. Fl. summer. 



VII. NEPETA. NEPETA. 



Creeping or erect herbs, with flowers usually blue, in axillary whorls or 

 terminal spikes. Calyx tubular, 15-ribbed, its mouth oblique and 5-toothed, 

 the upper teeth usually the longest. Corolla with a rather long tube, the 

 throat enlarged ; the upper lip erect, slightly concave, notched or 2-lobed ; 

 the lower lip spreading and 3-lobed. Stamens 4, in pau's under the upper 

 Up, the upper or inner pair the longest. 



An extensive European and Asiatic genus, the great centre of which is 

 in western Asia. With a few other exotic genera, it lorms a tribe among 

 Labiates known as well by the ribs of the calyx always 15, not 13 as in 

 Calaniint, nor 10 or 5 as in the generality of Labiates, as by the stamens, 

 of which tlie upper or central pair project above the outer ones, wiiilst 

 in most Labiates the outer ones project above the inner ones. 



Stem creeping or prostrate. Flowers axillary 1. Ground-Ivy N. 



Stem tall and erect. Flowers in terminal spikes or clusters ... 2. Catmint N. 



The N. Nepetella, from continental Europe, and one or two eastern 

 species, are occasionally cultivated in flower-gardens. 



1. Ground-Ivy Nepeta. Nepeta Glechoma, Benth. 

 {Glechoma hederacea, Eng. Bot. t. 853. Ground-Ivy.) 



A more of less haii-y perennial, creeping and rooting at tlie base, often to 

 a considerable length ; the flowering stems shortly ascending. Leaves or- 

 bicular, crenate, deeply cordate at the base, the lower ones on rather long 

 stalks. Plowers blue, from | to near an inch long, in axillary whorls of 

 about 6 ; the tube of the corolla at least twice as long as the calyx. 



Under hedges, on banks, edges of woods, and waste places, throughout 

 Europe and central and Kussian Asia, excepting the extreme north, ex- 

 tending eastward to Japan. Very abundant in Britain. Fl. early spring. 



2. Catmint Nepeta. Nepeta Cataria, Linn. 



(Eng. Bot. 137. Catmint.) 



An erect, branching perennial, 2 feet high or more, of a pale green, or 



somewhat hoary with minute down. Leaves stalked, ovate-cordate, pointed, 



and coarsely toothed, often whitish underneath. Elowers rather small, 



pale blue or nearly white, crowded m compact cymes, forming short, 



