274 LABIATE. [Labiatce. 



Order LXXXIIl. LABIATE. 



Flowers irregular or rarely nearly regular. Calyx persistent, usually 

 5-tootlied. CoroUa with a distinct tube and 4 or 5 lobes, usually forming 2 

 lips, rarely nearly equal. Stamens 3 or 4, in pairs, inserted in the tube of the 

 corolla, and alternating with its lower lobes. Ovary 4-lobed, with one erect 

 ovule in each lobe. Style single, arising from the centre, with 3 short stig- 

 matic lobes at the top. Truit enclosed in the calyx, separating into 4 small 

 seed-like nuts. — Herbs, or rarely shrubs, frequently aromatic. Leaves oppo- 

 site or whorled. Flowers in opposite cymes or rarely solitary, either forming 

 axiUary clusters, called false-whorls (verticillasters), or iu terminal spikes, or 

 racemes, or spike-like panicles or thyrsi,- or iu loose panicles. 



A large Order, distributed over every part of the globe. 



Stamens 3 ; the filaments branched, one branch with a perfect cell, the 



other with an imperfect or rudimentary one 6. Salvia. 



Stamens 4. 



Stamens nearly straight and equal, or bending downwards. 

 Calyx 3-^ipped. 

 Stamens bending downwards, exserted. Anthers 1-celled . . 1. Mesona. 

 Stamens not longer than the corolla. Anthers B-celled ... 4. Perilla. 

 Calyx nearly regular, 5-toothed. 



Filaments woolly-hairy. Stamens much exserted. 



Lower lobe of the corolla longest. Flowers in dense clusters, 



forming interrupted spikes 2. Pogostemon. 



Corolla nearly regular. Flowers in close cylindrical spikes . 3. Dysophylla. 



Filaments glabrous 5. Mektha. 



Stamens ascending iu pairs. 



Stamens shorter than the upper Up of the corolla. 

 Calyx nearly equally 5-toothed. 



Calyx tubular, 15-nerved. Upper stamens longest .... 7. Nepeta. 

 Calyx B-nerved. Lower stamens longest. Leaves deeply cut . 10. Leonukus. 



Calyx nearly equally 10-toothed 11. Lbucas. 



Calyx with 3 entire lips, and an appendage on the back of the 



upper one 8. Scutellakia. 



Stamens projecting beyond the ujjper lip or lobes of the corolla. 

 Short upper lip of the corolla entire behind the stamens. Nuts 



smooth 9. AuisoMELES. 



Short upper lip deeply cleft into 3 lobes, between which the 

 stamens protrude. Nuts reticulate 12. Tbucrium. 



1. MESONA, Blume. 



Calyx 2-lipped; the upper lip 3-toothed'; the lower entire, truncate. Co- 

 roUa with a short tube ; the limb campanulate ; the upper lip broad, truncate 

 or 4-toothed ; the lower longer, oblong, concave. Stamens 4, declining ; upper 

 filaments with a tooth or appendage at the base.— Herbs. Flowers small, 

 the false-whorls in terminal racemes. Calyx-tube transversely wrinkled when 

 in fruit. 



A small tropical Asiatic genus. 



1. M. chinensis, Benth. Stems decumbent, scai-cely a foot long, slightly 

 pubescent or hauy.. Leaves ovate or oblong, obtuse, 1 to 1^ in. long, slightly 

 toothed, and narrowed into a rather long petiole. Floral leaves or bracts 

 ovate or lanceolate, scarcely longer than the flowers, mostly coloured at the 



