122 



THE INDIAKA. WKTCB BOOK. 



mainly in having the leaves wider and slender-stalked, the corolla 

 and calyx less hairs'-. Both are homely weeds which For the moist 

 part occupy unused ground and therefore do little harm. Rem- 

 edies : draining and then mowing for a year or two ; cultivation. 



88. Hedeoma pulegioides L. Pennyroyal. (A.N. 3.) 



Stem slender, erect, much branched, finely and softly hairy, G-18 Inches 

 high ; leaves ovate to oblong, thin, short-stalked, few-toothed. Flowers In 

 small rather loose axillary clusters; teeth of upi>er calyx lip triangular; 

 corolla bluish-purple with darker spots, i inch long, the upper lip notched ; 

 perfect stamens only 2. Nutlets egg-shaped, finely wrinkled, 1/32 inc'a 

 long. (Fig. 80.) 



A strongly aromatic and well known little herb, very common in 

 old fields, open upland wooded pastures, along fence-rows and about 

 old stumps. June-Oct. The average stem 

 of pennyroyal bears 12 whorls or clusters of 

 flowets, each whorl having 8 to 10 flowers. 

 Counting 100 flowers to the stem and 4 seeds 

 to the flower, each plant produces at least 

 400 seeds. When it grows thickly there are 

 at least 40 stems to the square foot, so that 

 we have 16.000 seeds of a single plant pro- 

 duced on each square foot of surface. Thus 

 do the wild things of nature hold their own. 

 A myriad are where one is yet to be. 



When the rambler through some old 

 pasture in southern Indiana seats himself 

 beneath the shade of oak or maple on a sum- 

 mer day the first thing to greet him is 

 usually the odor, of pennyroyal. The blos- 

 soming plant is then everywhere abundant 

 on the clay lands of the woodland slopes. 

 From the half sterile soil its rootlets gather 

 in the elements of the essential oil which ex- 

 hales the penetrating odor. Within the cells of leaf and stem those 

 elements are sorted and combined and by a process of chemical 

 changes the oil is there produced. The odor is so strong and lasting 

 that it readily survives the winter and in March or April, in places 

 where the plant has grown, it is mingled with that of the earth mold 

 of spring to form a pleasing fragrance. 



An infusion of the leaves of pennyroyal is much used as a popu- 

 lar remedy to promote perspiration, as a cure for colic and a car- 

 minative, and may be taken freely without much regard to quantity. 



atson.J 



