SIDERITIS. 



rcnnial and woody. Stms erea, moftly fimplc, herbaceous, 

 a foot hi^h, clothed, like the whole of the herbage, with 

 long, foft, filky, denfe, wliite wool. The radical and 

 lower Jlem-leaves are obovate, or elliptic-lanceolate, ob- 

 fcurely crcnate ; thofe which accompany the flowers are 

 generally much ftiortcr, ovate, and acute ; fomctimes they 

 nearly refemble the reft of the foliage, evincing that they 

 are not Iradeas, as fome etteem them, but real leaves. 

 I'/horh about eight, a little dilbiit, each of fix bright yel- 

 low flotuers. Calyx obovate, denfely woolly, with live 

 (harp teeth, but no awns or points. Corolla twice as long, 

 contrafted at the mouth, downy externally, its fegments 

 acute, all entire. 



5. S. iaurka. Tartarian Iron-wort. Willd. n. 8. 

 (" S. fyriaca; Pallas Nov. Aft. Petrop. v. 10. 312.")— 

 Somewhat (hrubby, downy. Leaves lanceolate, crcnate. 

 Whorls crowded. Floral leaves heart-fiiaped, pointed, re- 

 ticulated with elevated veins. — Native of Tartary. The 

 Iranckes are a foot long, fubdiviJed, clothed with white 

 down. Radical leaves ^AVit^,Jlem-leaves fefiile, all crenate, 

 run-n-ed with veins, and covered with fine woollinefs ; the 

 floral ones roundith-ovate, pointed, ribbed, reticulated, 

 iliorter than the calycts ; woolly, like the other leaves, till 

 the flowers are palt, when they become nearly fmooth, ex- 

 cept the edges. Corolla yellow, ll^illd. 



6. S. dyiaiis. Diilant-whorled Iron-wort. WiUd. n, 9. 

 — <« Somewhat (hrubby, hoary. Leaves lanceolate, acute, 

 entire. Whorls dillant. Floral leaves heart-fhaped, fliarp- 

 pointed, reticulated with elevated veins." — Suppofed to be 

 a native of the Levant. Willdeaow obtained it from fome 

 old herbarium, with the nanr.e of SiderUts foTiis conjugath 

 amphxtcaul'ihm rh^ulis. Fie defcribes it as like the former, 

 but different, having acute, entire, lefs downy leaves-, the 



jlem alone being villous. Whorls very diftant, accompanied 

 by nearly fmooth leaves, with (harp points. Tube of the 

 corolla longer than the calyx ; the middle fegment of its 

 lower lip obtufe, but not emarginate. We are unac- 

 quainted with nny thing anfwering to this defcription. 



J. S. perfoliaia. Perfoliate Iron-wort. Linn. Sp. PI. 802. 

 Willd. n. 10. Ait. n. 7. Piodr. Fl. Grxc. n. 1330. 

 (S. orientali"!, phlomidis folio; Tourn, Cor. 12?) — Her- 

 baceous, rough with briitly hairs. Upper leaves ovato- 

 lanceolate, obicurely toothed, clafpmg the item ; floral 

 ones heart-(haped, (harp-pointed, reticulated, fringed. — 

 Native of the Levant. Dr. Sibthorp gathered it in fome 

 part of Greece, or the neighbouring ifland?, but omitted to 

 mark the precife fpot. No (igure is extant of this Ipecies. 

 The herbage is green, hairy, and briftly, not downy. Leaves 

 reticulated with copious veins ; the floral ones crowded, 

 (hort, and broad, with fpinous points, their di(k pale, and 

 femi-pellucid. Flowers fix in a whorl. Calyx tubular, 

 round, without angles, glandular and hairy ; its teeth long, 

 ered, ribbed, Ipinous. Linnaeus fays the corolla is white, 

 with fome reddilh veins. 



8. S. ciliata. Fringed Japan Iron-wort. Thunb. Jap. 

 245. Willd. n. I 1— Herbaceous, villous. Leaves (talked, 

 ovate, ferrated, dotted ; the floral ones orbicular, ribbed, 

 fringed. — Native of Japan. Stem a. foot high, or more, 

 fquare, ereft, branched. Leaves hardly an inch long, 

 acute ; pale beneath ; marked on the upper fide with de- 

 prefl'ed dots. Footjlalks rather (horter than the leaves. 

 Spiks terminal (whorled?) lanceolate, creef, a finger's 

 length. Floral leaves imbricated, pointed, not fpinous. 

 Thunb. 



9. S. montana. Mountain Iron-wort. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 802. WjUd. n. 4. Ait. n. 3. Jacq. Aultr. v. 5, i6. 



t. 434. Sm. Fl. Grace. Sibth. t. 551, uupubliihcd. (S. 

 montana, parvo florc nigro-purpureo ; Column. Ecphr, 

 198. t. 196.) — Herbaceous, decumbent, hairy. L-^ave* 

 deflexed, fpiious-pointed. Calyx-tccth fpreading, fpiiiou?, 

 nearly uniform. — Native of Italy and the Levant. A 

 hardy annual, cultivated by Miller in Chelfea garden, where 

 it (till fprings up fpontaneoufly every year, flowering in 

 June and July. The Jlem is branched from the bottom, 

 hairy, rather rigid, a fout long, diffufe, clothed all the 

 way up with ovate, concave, deflexed, flightly notched, 

 green, hairy leaves, each accompanied by a whorl of fix 

 Jlowers. The calyx is tubular, very hairy, except its lip, 

 which fpreads in two divifions ; the upper three-lobed, with 

 three fpinous teeth ; the lower deeply divided, rather nar- 

 rower, with two ; mouth hairy. Corolla with a yellow 

 (lender tube, the length of the calyx ; limb various, fome- 

 times very (mall, yellow, bordered with brown on all fides ; 

 fometimes, as in our garden plants, and in Dr. Sibthorp's 

 Greek ipecimens, the upper lip only is (mall and brown, 

 the lower dilated, yellow, obtufely three-lobed. This does 

 not at all anfuer to the figure and defcription of Columna. 

 We are not without a fufpicion of two fpecics being here 

 confounded, and yet we arc r.ot able to ti-ace a permanent 

 diftindtion between any of the fpeciinens we have feen. 



10. S. romana. Simple-beaked Iron-wort. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 802. Willd. n. 6. Ait. n. 5. Cavan. Ic. v, 2. 69. 

 t. 187. Sm. Fl. Grxc. Sibth. t. 552, unp«bli(hed. 

 (Sideritis genus fpinofis verticiUis ; Bauli. Hift. v. 3. 428.) 

 — Herbaceous, decumbent, hairy. Calyx-teetb fpinous; 

 the uppermoft large(l,folitary, ovate. — Gathered by Cherler 

 firlt near Rome, whence the Ipecitic name. It has however 

 been found in (ields and walle ground in many other parts 

 of the fouth of Europe. Dr. bibthorp obferved this plant 

 to be common in Greece and the iiles of the Archipelago, 

 and we have fufpefted it might be the real c-.Jr.^i'iif of Diof- 

 corides, to whofe defcription, as far as any thing can thence 

 be determined, it anfwers well. The habit of the plant is 

 much like the lad, but the leaves are more notched, ftiorter 

 and broader. Tube and upper lip of the corolla pale red ; 

 lower lip white, dilated as in the larger-flowered variety of 

 the preceding. The moil ftriking dilTerence is found in 

 the calyx, wiiofe upper lip is erect, large, and ovate, the 

 lower of four (lender teeth, Ipreadmg downward. 



11. &. lanala. Dark-flowered Iron-wort. Linn. Sp. PL 

 804. Willd. n. 20. Prodr. Fl. Groec. n. 1333. (S. 

 elegans ; Murray in Comm. Gott. for 1778. 92. t. 4. 

 Willd. n. 5. S. nigricans; Lamarck Did. v. 2. 168. 1 — 

 Herbaceous, diffufe, hairy. Leaves elliptical, obtulc, cre- 

 nate, without fpines. Calyx-teeth ipreading, fpinous, hairy, 

 nearly uniform. — Native of Egypt, Caria, and Palelline. 

 Murray liril defcribed it at Gottingen, from garden fpe- 

 cimens, without knowing whence they came. Nor was he 

 blameable for not difcoverir.g his plant to be S. lanala of 

 Linnaeus, whofe ipecific character, made from a Itarved wild 

 fpccimen, is calculated to miflead ttofe who had no other 

 guide. Yet the great Swediili botaniil appears, by his 

 herbarium, to have rightly underilood the cultivated plant 

 of Murray, of which he po(le(Ted a very old and luxuriant 

 moriel, apparently from fome Dutch colletlion. This 

 fpecies is undoubtedly moll akin to montana and romana, 

 nor has it any real hraSeas. The -whorls, as in thofe, are 

 all axillary, fix-flowered. Calyx invelted all over with long 

 lilky hairs, its teeth tipped with fpines, the upper one rather 

 longer than the others, but all nearly equal in breadth. 

 Cordla with a white tube ; the front of the limb dark pur- 

 plifh-brown, nearly black, of a very Itriking appearance ; 



its 



