68 FAMlLIAl! GARDEN FLO WEES 



A handsoine near relative of tliis dead-nettle is a plant 

 witli briglit yell(jw flowers and quite stately habit of 

 o'l-uwth. It is the yellow lamium [Ga/euOiIo/vii. liite/ii//), 

 also known as yellow weasel-snout and archangel. For 

 the mixed border and rockery it is a very proj^er jilant, 

 and, though a ti'ue native, is, as such, a rarity, and there- 

 fore readily obtainaljle onl^' by purchase. There are other 

 good garden plants of the class — as, for example, Ijctmiii in 

 (jiiriiiiiiirinn, the fr;irgano dead-nettle, a prett}' plant, pro- 

 ducing bold whorls of purplish flowers ; and L. orvahi, a 

 distinct red dead-nettle, native of the south of Europe. 



The evolutionists give such clear accounts of the 

 fashioning of forms by the cumulative influence of cir- 

 cumstances that one may venture to ask questions of 

 them, and hope for categorical answers. Now, here is 

 a question pertinent to the business in hand. Why are 

 the labiate plants so prolific of variegated-leaved varieties? 

 It seems that variegation in ])lants is not to be regarded 

 as a phenomenon of general occurrence that may hajipen 

 anywhere at any time, but rather as a family failing, to 

 be looked for in certain quarters only. Many of the 

 Ijest known plants that have been cultivated in many 

 ways, and much observed as wildings also, have not been 

 known to produce variegated-leaved vai'ieties. Thus, we 

 have no variegated-leaved camellias, no variegated-leaved 

 roses, and only one variegated-leaved rLododendron. But 

 amongst the labiate plants these curiosities abound, and 

 may be seen in plenty in old-fashioned gardens. When 

 the bedding system was in high fashion, the golden balm, 

 the silver mint, the white-leaved nettle, the delicate 

 variegated thyme were in great demand, and wiiuld be 

 again were the fashion revi\'ed. of colouring gardens iu 



