420 THE LABIATE TAMILT. 



Stem usually 8 inches to a foot high. Flowers blue, rather large . . . 1. Common S. 

 Stem usually under 6 inches. Flowers pink, and small 2. Lesser S. 



Some of the Mexican or South American half-shrubby species, with 

 scarlet flowers, are occasionally cultivated in our planthouses. 



1. Common Skullcap. Scutellaria galericulata, Liun. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 523.) 



A weak, slightly downy perennial, with a slender, creeping rootstock, 

 and slightly branched, ascending stems, 8 inches to a foot high. Leaves 

 nearly sessile, ovate-lanceolate, slightly toothed. Flowers nearly sessile, op- 

 posite, in axillary pairs along the greater part of the stem, and all turned to 

 one side ; the corolla more tlian 6 lines long, of a rather dingy blue ; the 

 tube very slender below, considerably enlarged at the throat. 



In wet, shady, or stony places, in Europe, northern Asia, and north-east 

 America, extending from the Himalaya and the Caucasus to the Arctic 

 Cii'cle, but rarer in the Mediterranean region. Tolerably frequent in Eng- 

 land and Ireland, less so in Scotland. Fl. summer. 



2. Iiesser Skullcap. Scutellaria minor, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 524.) 



A very small, and usually more glabrous plant than the common S., with 

 slender stems, seldom 6 inches long. Leaves of the same shape, but nearly 

 entire. Flowers shortly stalked, scarcely above 3 lines long, of a pale pink. 



In moist heaths or marshy sands, chiefly in western Europe, more rare 

 in central Europe, extending laowever across northern Germany into Russia 

 and central Asia, but neither a high northern, nor scarcely a Mediterranean 

 jjlant. In Britain, chiefly in western England, Ireland, and south-western 

 Scotland. FL summer. 



X. I^EIiITTIS. MELITTIS. 



A genus limited to a single species, differing from the long-flowered 

 Stacliys chiefly by its large calyx, usually 3-lobed, and by its axillary 

 flowers. 



1. Balm Melittis. Melittis Melissophyllum, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 577, and M. grandiflora, t. 636.) 



An erect and slightly hairy perennial ; the stems nearly simple, 1 to 1^ 

 feet high. Leaves stalked, heart-shaped, and coarsely toothed, about 2 

 inches long. Flowers pink, or variegated with white and purple, in axil- 

 lary whorls of 2 to 6, shorter than the leaves. Calyx of a thin texture, 

 broadly campanulate, with 3 broad, rounded lobes, of which the upper one 

 is sometimes 2- or 3-toothed. Corolla with a broad tube, near an inch 

 long ; the upper lip thrown back and shghtly concave ; the lower lip large, 

 S)3readiug, and 3-lobed. Stamens 4, in pairs, projecting slightly from the 

 tube. 



In woods and shady places, in temperate and southern Europe and west- 

 ern Asia, not extending into northern Germany. In Britain, confined to a 

 few localities in southern and south-western England. Fl. stimmer. 





