WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 
our troubled and aching stomachs with Catnip tea. 
We relished its flavour for it tasted so good. First it 
was green apples or green grapes — then Catnip tea. 
Again wet feet and snuffles— then, more Catnip tea. 
And ofttimes it was just Catnip tea for the sake of drink- 
ing it. Grandmother will tell you that it is the safest 
remedy for quieting little babies when they are in pain. 
Cats display an exceedingly strong liking for this plant, 
and will eat it and roll into it almost as easily and 
naturally as they will take to a bird or a mouse. You 
can always distinguish a member of the Mint family by 
‘its usually four-sided or square stem, and ‘its simple 
opposite leaves. The pleasing, aromatic odour, 
peculiar to the Catnip is familiar to most everyone 
wherever it grows. The large, leafy, hollow. branching 
stalk is distinctly square and grooved. It rises from 
two to three feet high, and the downy branches are 
straight and ascending. The fragrant, short-stemmed, 
grayish green leaves are generally heart-shaped, with 
large, sharp-pointed, saw-toothed margins. They are 
greener above than beneath, and the surface is' velvety, 
and they occur at right angles on the stalk. The dark- 
spotted, pale purple or nearly white tubular flowers are 
rather small and inconspicuous. They are gathered 
in whorled clusters, which are set in short, dense termi- 
nal spikes. ‘They are strongly two-lipped. The 
erect upper lip is two-lobed; arid the spreading lower 
lip is three-lobed, with the central lobe largest. The 
‘small, hairy, green calyx is five-parted. Catnip: is 
frequently found near dwellings ‘and barns, and along 
353 
