502 MEDICAL BOTANY. 



rough and brownish, of the younger branches pale green. The leaves are numerous, 

 linear, hoary, entire, slightly revolute ; the upper ones sessile, the lower petiolaled. The 

 flowers are in spikes, consisting of interrupted whorls, in which the florets are from six 

 to ten, furnished with small ovate bracts. The corolla is purplish-gray, and consists of a 

 cylindrical tube, divided above into two lips, the uppermost of which is larger and bifid, 

 the lower declining, and of three segments. The stamens are four, with small, simple 

 anthers. The style is slender, and crowned by a bilobate stigma. 



Lavender is a native of the south of Europe, but is extensively cultivated 

 in several places in England, and is a common garden plant in this country. 

 It is generally propagated by cuttings. . The flowers, which are the officinal 

 portion, are gathered in June and dried in the shade. They have an agree- 

 able fragrant odour, and a pungent bitter taste. They owe their properties 

 to a volatile oil. This, which is obtained by distillation, is of a pale yellow 

 colour, a very pungent taste and fragrant odour. From fifty to seventy 

 pounds of the flowers afford a pound of oil. 



Medical Properties. — Stimulant, aromatic and stomachic. The flowers are 

 seldom used except to obtain the oil ; this forms the basis of a tincture, much 

 employed as a cordial and anti-emetic, and to relieve colic. The principal 

 use of lavender is as a perfume, especially in the formation of what is term- 

 ed Lavender water, which is a solution of the oil, either alone or with other 

 aromatics in alcohol. 



The L. stcechas, has attained some reputation as an antispasmodic, emme- 

 nagogue, and expectorant ; but is not employed in this country. Its volatile 

 oil is the true oil of spike, and is of a darker colour and less agreeable odour 

 than that of L. vera. The L. spica, which is the most common species in 

 the south of Europe, furnishes almost all the Oil of Lavender imported from 

 the Mediterranean ports. It has the same properties as that of the L. vera, 

 but its fragrance is not as pleasant. 



Ainslie, {Mat. Ind. ii. 144,) states that the fresh juice of an Indian species, 

 the L. carnosa, is employed by the Hindoo practitioners, mixed with sugar 

 candy, in cases of cynanche, and it also enters into the composition of a lini- 

 ment for the head. 



Mentha. — Linn. 



Calyx campanulate or tubular, 5-toothed, equal or somewhat two-lipped, with the throat 

 naked inside, or villous. Corolla with the tube enclosed, the limb campanulate, nearly 

 equal, 4-cleft ; the upper segments broader, nearly entire or emarginate. Stamens 4, 

 equal, erect, distant; filaments smooth, naked; anthers with two parallel cells. Style 

 shortly bifid, with the divisions bearing stigmas. Achenia dry and smooth. 



This genus is principally European, but species of it are found in various 

 parts of the world, and several of the European have become naturalized in 

 other countries. They are all herbaceous, and odorous, with verticil late 

 flowers, either axillary or spiked. Several of the species are officinal. 



1. M. piperita, Smith. — Stem smooth; leaves petiolate, ovate.oblong, acute, serrate, 

 rounded, crenate at base, smooth. Spikes lax, obtuse, short, interrupted at the base. 

 Pedicels and calyx smooth at base, teeth hispid. 



Smith, Eng. Bot. x. 687; Woodville, ii. t. 120; Stokes, iii. 317; Ste- 

 phenson and Churchill, i. 45 ; Bentham, Labiat., t. 687 ; Lindley, Flor. 

 Med. 487. 



Common Name. — Peppermint. 



Foreign Names. — Menthe poivree, Fr. ; Menta pepe, It. ; PfefFermunze, 

 Ger. 



