466 LABIATE. 



1. L. Americanus iluhl. Stem erect, branching above, 2 to 3 ft. 

 high, very acutely 4-angled, from creeping rootstocks, not bearing- 

 stolons; herbage nearly' glabrous; leaves broadly or narrowly lanceo- 

 late, incisely toothed or laciniate-piunatiiid, narrowed at base into a 

 slender petiole, IJ to 2 in. long; calyx-teeth acute; rudiments of 

 sterile stamens conspicuous; inner angle of nutlet granulose at apex. 

 — (L. slnuatus Ell.) 



Lower Sacramento River; San Francisco ace. to Mrs. K. Brande- 

 gee. Sept. -Oct. 



2. L. lucidus Turcz. Stems stoutish, not so sharply angled, 

 perennial by stolons; leaves broadly or narrowly oblong, coarsely and 

 incisely toothed, sessile, the lower 3 in. long and f in. wide, the 

 upper reduced; calyx-teeth attenuate-subulate. 



Salt marshes, at Benicia; near San Francisco ace. to Bot. Cal. 

 Aug. 



17. MENTHA L. Mixt, 

 Very odorous perennial herbs, mostly with slender creeping root- 

 stocks, usuallj' tomentose or hairy and with rather small flowers in 

 whorls, which are either remote or spieate or capitate. Calyx cam- 

 panulate or short-tubular, commonly 5-toothed, either regular or 

 irregular or bilabiate. Corolla with a short tube; upper lip emargi- 

 nate, scarcely or not at all larger than the 3-lobed lower one. Stamens 

 4, erect and nearly equal. Nutlets smooth. (Ancient Greek name.) 



Flower-whorls in the leaf axils, distinct. 

 • Herbage oommonly light green; branches leafy to the ends; calyx-teeth 



similar and equal or nearly so 1. M. Canadensis. 



Herbage somewhat grayish; leaves toward the end of the branches 

 reduced and inconspicuous; calyx-teeth dissimilar, the 2 lower 



lanceolate-subulate 2. M. Pulegium. 



Flower-whorls in terminal spikes or some in the upper leaf axils. 

 Leaves petioled; spike thick, dense or little interrupted . 3. M. piperita. 



Leaves sessile or nearly so; spikes slim, mostly interrupted 



4. M. spicata. 



1. M. Canadensis L. Tdle-mixt. Perennial by suckers; stems 

 often several ft. long, simple or much branched; herbage tomentose- 

 pubescent, sometimes almost hoary, more commonly greenish; leaves 

 oblong-lanceolate, sharply serrate, tapering at base into a petiole, 1^ 

 to 2 in. long; whorls of flowers often shorter than the petioles of the 

 leaves; calyx pubescent, its teeth J to J as long as the tube. 



Common in marshes: Lower Sacramento and Lower San Joaquin; 

 San Francisco Bay. Aug.-Sept. Cymes sometimes raised out of the 

 axils on peduncles. 



2. M. Pulegium L. Pennyrotai,. Stems 1 to 2 ft. long, erect 

 or prostrate and rooting at the joints; herbage pubescent with short 

 white hairs; leaves elliptic- to oblong-ovate, serrate t>r entire, petioled, 

 J to 1 in. long; whorls dense, the leaves smaller or inconspicuous 

 toward the ends of the branches; 3 upper calyx-teeth triangular, 

 acute; 2 lower lanceolate-subulate, ciliate-bristly. — (Micromeria pur- 

 purea Gray.) 



