LABIATiE-MINT FAMILY 



The Mints are chiefly herbs with square stems, opposite aro- 

 matic leaves, and a more or less two-lipped corolla. Calyx per- 

 sistent, five-cleft; corolla two-lipped; stamens four in two pairs; 

 ovary deeply four-lobed, forming in fruit four little seed-like 

 nutlets or akenes which surround the base of the single style, in the 

 bottom of the persistent calyx; stigmas two-lobed. The in- 

 florescence is axillary, usually in cymose clusters running into 

 terminal racemes or spikes. Foliage mostly dotted with small 

 glands containing a volatile oil, upon which depends the warmth 

 and aroma of the plants of the well-known family. 



SALVIA. SCARLET SAGE 



Sdlvia spUndens. 



Salvia, to keep safe or healthy; referring to the medicinal proper- 

 ties of the Common Sage. 



Cultivated for ornament; introduced from Brazil, there a perennial, 

 but here an annual. July until frost. 



Stems. — Erect and branching, two to three feet high. 



Leaves. — Opposite, acute and acuminate. 



Flowers. — Scarlet, tubular, borne in a loose terminal spike, four to 

 six inches long; making a whorl of blossoms, from two to six flowers 

 in a whorl. 



Calyx. — Scarlet, swollen, two-lipped, with soft, short, scarlet hairs. 



Corolla. — Scarlet, long, lax, somewhat swollen tube, almost fugacious; 

 two-lipped, the long undivided upper lip covering and protecting the 

 stamens and the style; lower lip three-lobed. 



Stamens.— Two, inserted on the ■ corolla-tube, each bearing a half- 

 anther at the end of a long, slender connective; the other half of the 

 connective sterile. 



Ovary. — Four-parted; stigma divided. Ovary ripens into four nut- 

 lets. 



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