CHAP. LXXXVI. 



LABIA'CE.'E. 



1283 



to doubt of the wholesoraeness of sage ale, being brewed as 

 it should be with sage, scabious, betony, spiknard, squinanth, 

 and fennel seeds." (Herbal, p. 766.) 



There are several varieties ; one of which has the leaves 

 variegated ; another has the whole plant of a reddish hue ; and 

 one (fig. 1142.), common in the neighbourhood of Paris, and 

 of which there arc plants in the Horticultural Society's Gar- 

 den, has leaves larger than those of the species. 



j* S. Hablitzmwd Willd., Bot. Mag., t. 1429., and our 

 Jig. 1143., is a native of Siberia, and appears tolerably dis- 

 tinct. 



a. S. pomifera L. ; S. cretica frutescens pomifera Tourn., 

 Fl. GrcEc, 1. t. 15.; and owe jig. 1144. ; is a native of Candia; introduced in 

 1699. This sort of sage is described as growing 4 ft. or 5 ft. high, and 

 having pale blue flowers, like S. officinalis. The 

 branches are liable to be punctured by insects ; in 

 consequence of which protuberances are produced 

 as big as apples, in the same manner as galls are 

 produced upon the oak, and mossy excrescences 

 upon the rose tree. Tournefort says the spikes of 

 flowers of this kind of sage are 1 ft. in length, and 

 that the odour of the plant partakes of the common 

 sage and lavender. In the Isle of Crete, the com- 

 mon sage is said to produce the same excrescences 

 as those of S. pomifera ; and the inhabitants carry 

 them to market there under the name of sage apples. 



This circumstance, and some 



others, induce us to doubt 



whether pomifera, and several 



other of the alleged species, 



natives of the south of Europe, 



the Levant, and the north of 



Africa, enumerated in our 



Hortus Britannicus, are any 



thing more than varieties of S. 



officinalis. There are various 



half-hardy species, some of which will be noticed in 

 ! the Appendix to this chapter. 



Andibert'minccma Benth., Bot. Reg., t. 1469., and our 



fig. 1146., is a curious little evergreen shrub, sent from 



Colombia, in 1827, by Douglas. It grows to the 



height of 1 ft. or 2 ft., and produces its pale blue 

 flowers from July to September. There are plants in the Horticultural 

 Society's Garden. 



A pp. I. Half-hardy ligneous or sujfmticose Species of Labidcece. 



1146 \ft? Lavandula Stoe*chas L., Bar. Ic, 301., N. Du Ham., 3. t. 



43., and our fig. 1149., is an elegant little evergreen shrub, 

 with conspicuous lilac-coloured flowers. It is a native of the 

 south of Europe, and has been known in gardens since the 

 days of Gerard. It is commonly kept in green-houses'; but 

 it will pass the winter on dry rockwork, with little or no 

 protection. 



L. dentafaL,., Bot. Mag., t. 401., and our fig. 1146., is a 

 native of Spain ; and L. pinnata Bot. Mag., t.400., and our 

 fig. 1147., is a native of Madeira. Both sorts are curious in 

 their leaves, and well deserve a place in collections. L. vi. 

 ridis L'Herit, Fl. Port., 1. 1. 4., is a native of Madeira, with 

 purple flowers, which are produced from May to July. 



Plectrdnthus frutiebsus L'Herit. Sert., 85. t. 41., and our 

 fig. 1148., is a native of the forests near the Cape of Good 

 Hope, an old inhabitant of our green.houses, and one of the 

 few green-house plants that were found in old conservatories 

 in France before the Revolution. In that country, among the 

 old orange trees, pomegranates, olives, and oleanders, which 

 are occasionally found lingering about the few old chateaux that still exist, Plectranthus fruticosug 



4p 3 



1147 



