GENUS 27. MINT FAMILY. 137 
27. MELISSA [Tourn.] L. Sp. Pl. 592. 1753. 
Leafy branching herbs, with broad dentate leaves, and rather small white or yellowish 
axillary clustered somewhat secund flowers. Calyx oblong-campanulate, deflexed in fruit, 
13-nerved, nearly naked in the throat, 2-lipped; upper lip flat, 3-toothed, the lower 2-parted. 
Corolla exserted, its tube curved-ascending, enlarged above, naked within, the limb 2-lipped; 
upper lip erect, emarginate; lower lip 3-cleft, spreading. Stamens 4, didynamous, connivent 
and ascending under the upper lip of the corolla; anthers 2-celled, their sacs divaricate. 
Ovary deeply 4-parted; style 2-cleft at the summit, the lobes subulate. Nutlets ovoid, smooth. 
[Greek, bee.] ; 
About 4 species, natives of Europe and western 
Asia, the following typical. 
1. Melissa officinalis L. Garden or Lemon 
Balm. Bee-balm. Fig. 3650. 
Melissa officinalis L. Sp. Pl. 592. 1753. 
Perennial, pubescent; stem rather stout, erect 
or ascending, 1°-23° high. Leaves ovate, petioled, 
mostly obtuse at both ends, sometimes cordate, 
pinnately veined, coarsely dentate or crenate- 
dentate, 1-23’ long; flowers several in the axil- 
lary clusters; pedicels shorter than the calyx; 
calyx about 3” long, the teeth of its lower lip 
slightly exceeding those of the upper; corolla 
white, 5-7” long. 
In waste places, thickets and woods, Maine to 
Georgia, West Virginia, Missouri and Arkansas, 
also in Oregon and California. Naturalized from 
Europe. Plant lemon-scented. Balm-leaf or -mint. 
Honey-plant. Pimentary. Goose-tongue. Dropsy- 
_ plant. Lemon-lobelia. Sweet-mary. June-Aug. 
28. SATUREIA [Tourn.] L. Sp. Pl. 567. 1753. 
Herbs or shrubs, with small entire leaves, sometimes with smaller ones fascicled in their 
axils, and bracted purple flowers in dense terminal or axillary clusters. Calyx campanulate, 
mostly 1o-nerved, 5-toothed, naked or rarely villous in the throat. Corolla-limb 2-lipped, the 
upper lip erect, flat, entire or emarginate, the lower spreading, 3-cleft. Stamens 4, connivent 
under the upper lip of the corolla; anthers 2-celled, the sacs parallel or divaricate. Ovary 
deeply 4-parted; style 2-cleft at the summit. Nutlets oblong or oval. [The classical Latin 
name of the plant.] 
Niy Gh 
About 18 species, the following typical one intro- 
duced as a garden herb from Europe, one of doubt- 
ful affinity in Florida, the others of the Mediterra- 
nean region. 
\ N i 
NW 
Wii 
1. Satureia horténsis L. Savory. Sum- 
mer Savory. Fig. 3651. 
Satureia hortensis L. Sp. Pl. 568. 1753. 
Annual, puberulent; stems erect, slender, much 
branched, 6-18’ high. Leaves linear or linear- 
oblong, short-petioled, entire, acute at both ends, 
3’-14’ long, 1-2” wide; clusters 3-5” in diam- 
eter, terminal and in many of the upper axils; 
bracts linear, small, minute, or wanting; calyx 
about equalling the corolla-tube, somewhat pu- 
bescent, its teeth subulate, about as long as the 
tube, ciliate; corolla little longer than the calyx; 
stamens scarcely exserted. 
_In waste places, New Brunswick and Ontario to 
Kentucky, west to Nevada. Naturalized or ad- 
ventive from Europe. July-Sept. 
