
MINT FAMILY. Labiatae. 
There are several kinds of Prunella, 
Self-heal widely distributed, but this is the only one 
Prunélla vulgaris 
Purple common in this country and is probably 
Spring, summer, not native. It is abundant in dampish 
autumn places, in the far West often staying green 
Across the 
all winter, a perennial, sometimes hairy, 
from two inches to over a foot high. The 
leaves, often obscurely toothed, have leaf-stalks and the 
small flowers are crowded in a series of whorls, with pur- 
plish bracts and forming a spike or head. The calyx is two- 
lipped, with five teeth and often purplish, and the corolla is 
purple, pink, or occasionally white, with an arched upper 
‘lip, a spreading, three-lobed lower lip, and four stamens, 
under the upper lip of the corolla, the lower pair longer. 
This is usually not pretty, but in favorable situations in 
the West is often handsome, with brighter-colored, larger 
flowers. The name, often spelled Brunella, is said to 
be derived from an old German word for an affection of the 
throat, which this plant was supposed to cure. There is a 
picture in Mr. Matheyvs’ Field Book. 
There are many kinds of Stachys, widely distributed; 
herbs, often hairy, with a disagreeable smell; the calyx with 
five, nearly equal teeth; the corolla with a narrow tube, the 
upper lip erect, the lower lip spreading and three-lobed, the 
middle lobe longest; the stamens four, in pairs, usually 
under the upper lip of the corolla. 
Hedge TRE This is a handsome plant, with a stout, 
Stachys ciliata - rough, hairy stem, over two feet tall, and 
Magenta very bright green leaves, which are thin in 
Spring, summer texture but velvety. The flowers are in 
Rorewest whorls, making a large cluster, and have a 
purplish calyx, smooth or with a few stiff hairs, and a 
corolla about an inch long, deep pink or magenta, some- 
times spotted with white inside. Though the flowers are 
rather crude in color, they contrast finely with the bright 
green foliage. S. coccinea is a very handsome kind, with 
a tubular scarlet corolla, and grows in the mountain 
canyons of Arizona. 
continent 
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