352 LABIATAE. 



1. V. hastata L. BLUB VERVAIN. Erect, strict, 2 to 4 ft. high; pubescence 

 Bhorl hispid; leaves oblong-lanceolate, gradually acuminate, rather finely ser- 

 rate, A in. long or less, on petioles U 2 in. long; some of the lower leaves com- 

 monly hastately lobed at base; spikes numerous, naked at base or more or 

 Less peduncled, densely flowered, 2 to 3 in. long, in a close panicle; corolla 

 deep blue. 



Islands of the lower Sacramento Eiver. 



2. V. prostrata B. Br. Common Vervain. Stems diffusely branched or 

 spreading; herbage mostly soft-pubescent; leaves oblong-ovate, coarsely serrate, 

 and often laciniately lobed, especially toward the base which is contracted 

 into lli<' euneately-winged petiole; spikes 2 or 3 in. to 1 ft. long, solitary, 

 or more commonly loosely paniculate; bracts subulate, shorter than the calyx; 

 corolla violet or blue, 2 lines long. 



Dry open hill country throughout western California: Humboldt Co. to 

 sunt hern California. July-Sept. 



3. V. bracteosa Michx. Diffusely much branched, % to 1 ft. high or more; 

 Leaves pinnately incised or 3-cleft with coarsely serrate lobes, narrowed at 

 baSe into a winged petiole; spikes commonly dense, sessile; bracts lanceolate, 

 rigid, conspicuously exceeding the flowers, mostly entire or the lowest incised; 

 corolla small, blue. 



Lower San Joaquin; probably introduced. 



2. LIPPIA L. Lemon Verbena. 

 Ours prostrate perennial herbs with simple leaves. Flowers small, similar 

 to those of Verbena, disposed in short spikes or heads subtended by broad 

 closely imbricated bracts. Pubescence fine, the hairs fixed by the middle and 

 both ends acute. Peduncles slender, axillary. Calyx small and short, in ours 

 2-cleft, the lobes entire and lateral. Corolla-limb manifestly bilabiate, 4-lobed, 

 the upper lip retuse or emarginate. Style mostly short; stigma thickish, 

 oblique. Pericarp more or less corky, not readily separating into the 2 nutlets. 

 (Dr. A. Lippi, a French naturalist, killed in Abyssinia, in 1703.) 



Leaves thickish, oblanceolate or obovate 1. L. twdiflora. 



Leaves thinnish, ovate 2. L. lanceolata. 



1. L. nodiflora Michx Mat-grass. Stems extensively creeping from a lig- 

 nescenl perennial base; herbage minutely canescent throughout; leaves thickish, 

 cuneate-oblaneeolate or -obovate, sessile, % to nearly 1 in. long, sharply serrate 

 towards the apex; peduncles filiform, 1 to 4 in. long, much exceeding the 

 Leaves; heads cylindraceous in age, 3 lines thick; calyx with 2 low triangular 

 teeth, these Laterally disposed and entire or notched; corolla white, 1% lines 

 broad, the lower lobe transversely oblong; fruit globose or didymous. . 



Lower Sacramento and San Joaquin, especially on river banks. Esteemed 

 as a plant covering on levees for the purpose of resisting erosion. July-Sept. 



2. L. lanceolata Michx. Similar to the preceding, bul greener; leaves 

 thinner, 1 to -'•_• in. long, ovate, pinnately Btraight-veined, sharply Berrate 



excepl at the broadly CUneate base which is abruptly narrowed to a short 

 petiole; peduncles often Bhorter than the leaves; corolla bluish white. 



Common on muddy banks of tin 1 islands lying near the confluence of the 

 Saci anient.) and San Joaquin rivers. 



LABIATAE. Mint Family, 



Aromatic herbs or low shrubs with square stems and always opposite simple 

 leaves. Flowers perfect, solitary in the axils or more c — imonly in small 



