346 DIDYNAM1A GYMX0SPERM1A 



Root perennial. Stem 1 to 2 feet high, erect, obscurely 4-angled, smooth, often pur. 

 pie, branched; branches erect, upper ones fastiglato, forming a close corymb" 

 Leaves half an inch to 2 inches long, and 1 to 2 lines wide, sessile, rather crowded, 

 and often in small axillary fascicles, smooth, minutely scabrous on the margin, 

 punctate, with 3 or sometimes 5 nearly parallel nerves. Floicers in dense hemis. 

 pherical heads; bracts imbricated, ovale lanceolate, acuminate, ciliale-iubescent. 

 Corolla pilose, white, or slightly tinged with red, with dark purple spots within. 

 Stamens a little exserted. 

 Hob. Thickets, and exsiccated swamps: frequent. Fl. July—August. Fr. Sept. 



Obs. This may be the Thymus virginivtis, of Linn, but I think the brief des- 

 criptions of Authors, generally, apply better to the narrotc-l eared variety of the 

 preceding. Five or six additional species are enumerated in the U. States. 



274. ORIGANUM. L. JVHitt. Gen. 511. 

 [Gr. Oros, a mountain, & Ganosy joy ; alluding to its fragrance and native locality.] 



Flowers in dense clusters, imbricated with bracts. Calyx ovoid- 

 tubular, striate, nearly equally 5-toothed. Corolla with the upper lip 

 erect, nearly flat, emarginate; lower one spreading, 3-lobed, lobes sub- 

 equal; tube about as long as the calyx. 



1. O. vuloare, L. Leaves ovate, hairy ; spikes roundish, corymbose- 

 paniculate, clustered, smoothish ; bracts lance-ovate, longer than the 

 calyx, colored. Beck, Bot. p. 274, 



Common origanum. Vulgo — Wild marjoram. 



Gall. — Origan ordinaire. Germ. — Gemeine Dostcn. Ilisp. — Orcgano. 



Ryot perennial, creeping. Stem 12 to 18 inches high, several from the same 

 root, pubescent, often purplish, paniculately branching above. Leaves half an 

 inch to about an inch long, and 1 third to 3 fourths of an inch wide, entire, hairy, 

 pubescent, dark green above, paler beneath, on hairy petioles 1 fourth to near half 

 an inch long,— with tufts of smaller leaves in the axils. Floicers in dense panicu- 

 late clusters ; brarts lance-ovate, minutely pubescent, more or less tinged with 

 dark purple. Calyx pubescent, with 5 equal erect lance-ovute segments, the ori- 

 fice closed with white hairs. Corolla pale purple, pubescent. 



Hub. Sandy banks; roadsides: rare. FL July— August. Fr. Septcml>er. 



Obs. I have met with a single bunch of this, in Patton's field, West Chester ; 

 but it is quite rare in Chester County. It grows plentifully by the side of the Phil- 

 adelphia road, about 7 miles west of the City. Willdenow speaks of it as a nativo 

 of Canada,— and Mr. Nutlall says it is indigenous ; but it has every appearance 

 of an introduced plant, in this region. It is the only species in the U. States. 



275. MAJOR ANA. Manch. Benth. Lab. p. 338. 

 [A name derived from the Arabic] 



Flowers in dense 4-sided spikelets, imbricated with bracts. Calyx 

 sub-bilabiate; upper lip flat, dilated and rounded at apex, entire, or 3- 

 toothed, contracted and involute at base ; lower lip very small. Corolla 

 sub-bilabiate ; upper lip rather erect, emarginate ; lower lip spreading, 

 3-lobed, lobes nearly equal ; tube about as long as the calyx. Stame?is 

 exserted, distant ; anthers 2-cclled ; cells parallel, diverging, or finally 

 divaricate. 



