THE HEDGE STACHYS. 79 



is very characteristically heart-shaped : each leaf is sup- 

 ported on a stem about equal in length to it, the out- 

 lines are deeply notched, and the leaves are thrown 

 off from the stems in pairs, each pair being at right 

 angles to the pairs above and below it. The flowers grow 

 in rings upon the stem, each ring being separated from 

 the other by an intervening space of stem, and the whole 

 forming a long terminal spike. The number of flowers 

 in each ring is variable, but half a dozen would be about 

 the normal state of things, and below each ring are its 

 floral leaves. The flowers are of the ordinary labiate type, 

 such as we find in the red dead-nettle, ground-ivy, bugle, 

 and other flowers of the order that we have figured in 

 our series. The lower lip of the flower is entire, beauti- 

 fully variegated with white upon the crimson-purple ground, 

 and having its sides folded back. The upper lip is also 

 entire, and very convex, slightly viscid to the touch. The 

 stamens, four in number, will be found beneath the pro- 

 tecting hood made by the upper part of the flower. Two 

 of the filaments are rather larger than the others, and the 

 anthers are in the opening flower of a dull violet colour, 

 afterwards changing to black; the pollen upon them is 

 almost pure white. The calyx has ten prominent ribs, is 

 somewhat bell-shaped, terminates in five spreading teeth, 

 of which the upper one slightly exceeds the others in length, 

 is rough to the touch, and is of a dull reddish-purple 

 colour. The seeds that succeed each flower are four in 

 number. The strong odour of the plant seems to render 

 it generally unpopular, and few animals, if any, touch it. 

 The plant is sometimes called the hedge wound-wort, 

 but merely to distinguish it from the true wound-wort, 

 or StacJiys Germanica, a plant that occasionally occurs in 



