MINT FAMILY. 



LABIATE. 



Gill-over-the-Ground. Nepeta Glechoma. 



Ground Ivy. 

 Robin-run-away. 

 Creeping Charlie. 



Found in dooryai-ds and roadsides, amidst grass, in May. 



The trailing stalk is leafy, squai'e, and somewhat hairy ; pale green 

 in color. 



The leaf is nearly round, with a heart-shaped base, the margin cut 

 in large rounded scallops, and the surface soft hairy to the touch ; the 

 color is green, often sprinkled with lighter, mouldy-looking patches. 

 The leaves, on curved stems, grow in pairs. 



The flower is 2-lipped ; the upper lip slightly parted, the lower 

 being more broad and spreading, and 3-cleft, — the middle lobe notched. 

 The color varies from light to darker blue-violet, the lower lip and throat 

 being spotted with small specks of reddish-violet. The tubular calyx 

 is 5-parted, and green. The flowers, on short stems, spring from the 

 angles of the leaves. 



Introduced from England into our gardens, the one desire of this 

 " natural born " rover seems to be that of escaping from bounds, — to 

 run away riot on the green sward, under the hedge, and so out on the 

 highway. 



492 



