300 LABIATiE. (mint FAMILY.) 



1. P. Lteptostacliya, L. — Rich copses, common. July. — Plant 2° - 

 3° high : leaves 3' - 5' long, thin. (Also in the Himalaya Mountains ! ) 



Order 77. LABIATE. (Mint Family.) 



Chiefly Jierbs^ with square sterns^ opposite aromatic leaves, more or less 2- 

 lipped corolla, didynamous or diandrous stamens, and a deeply 4:-lobed ovary, 

 which forms in fruit 4 little seed-like nutlets, or achenia, surroundiny the base 

 of the single style in the bottom of the jyersistent calyx, each filed with a sin- 

 gle erect seed. -—Albumen mostly none. Embryo straight (except in Scu- 

 tellaria) : radicle at the base of the fruit. Upper lip of the corolla 2- 

 lobed or sometimes entire ; the lower 3-lobed. Stamens, as in all the al- 

 lied families, inserted on the tube of the corolla. Style 2-lobcd at the 

 apex. Flowers axillary, chiefly in cymose clusters, which are often aggre- 

 gated in terminal spikes or racemes. Foliage mostly dotted with small 

 glands containing a volatile oil, upon which depends the warmth and aro- 

 ma of most of the plants of this large and well-known family. (More abun- 

 dant in the Old World than the New. One third of our genera and many 

 of the species are merely introduced plants.) 



Synopsis. 



Tribe I. A JTJCrOIDEJE. Stamens 4, ascending (curved upwards) and parallel, usually 

 projecting from the notch, of the upper side of the (not eYidently 2-lipped) 5-lobod corolla. 

 Nutlets reticulated and pitted, obliquely attached by the inside near the base 

 * Lobes of the corolla all declined (turned forwards) : stamens exserted. 



1. TEUCRIUM. Lower lobe of the corolla much larger than the others. Calyx 5-toothed. 



2. TRICHOSTEMA. Lobes of the corolla scarcely unequal. Calyx 6-clcft, oblique. 



* * Lobes of the corolla almost equally spreading : stamens nearly included. 



3. ISANTIIUS. Calyx bell-shaped, 5-cleft, almost equalling the small corolla. 



Tribe II. SATUREIE.3E, Stamcna 4, the inferior pair longer, or only 2, distant, 

 straight, diyerging, or converging under the upper lip : anthers 2-ceUed Lobes of th« 

 corolla flat and spreading Nutlets smooth or minutely roughened, fixed by the base. 

 * Corolla not evidently 2-lipped, but almost equally 4-lobed. Stamens erect, distant 



4. BIENTHA. Fertile stamens 4, nearly equal. 



5. LYC01*US. Fertile stamens 2 ; and often 2 sterile filaments without anthers. 



* * Corolla more or less 2-Upped ; £he tube naked within. 

 -1- Stamens only 2, distant : no rudiments of the upper pair 

 6 CUNILA. Calyx very hairy in the throat, equally 5-toothed. Corolla small. 

 •»- -t- Stamens 4, all with anthers. 



7. HYSSOPUS. Calyx tubular, 15-nerved, naked in the throat, equally 5-toothed. Stamens 



exserted, diverging. 



8. PYCNANTHEftlUai. Calyx ovate or short-tubular, 10- 13-nerved, naked in the throat, 



equally 5-toothed or somewhat 2-lipped. Flowers in dense heads or clusters. 



9. ORIGANUM. Calyx ovate-bell-shaped, hairy in the throat, 13-nerved, 5-toothed. Stamena 



diverging. Flowers spiked, and with large colored bracts, 

 10 THYMUS. Calyx ovate, nodding in fruit, hairy in the throat, 10-13 nerved, 2-lipped. 

 Stamens distant. Bi-acts minute. Leaves very small. 



