HEDGE-CALAMINT. ( 111 



This strong similarity makes the order a difficult one for 

 the novice to deal with when he has only a verbal descrip- 

 tion of any particular plant before him ; but by the aid of 

 our coloured illustration our readers should find less difficulty 

 in identifying the hedge-calamint when they come across it. 

 There is one curious little peculiarity in the calyx of this 

 species of calamint that may be mentioned as an aid. It is 

 always ribbed with thirteen longitudinal ridges, while in the 

 ground-ivy these are fifteen in number, and most of the 

 labiates have either ten or five of these projecting ribs. 

 The root of the hedge-calamint is perennial. The stems 

 are rather weak-looking, though erect ; they rise to a height 

 of a foot or eighteen inches, and are thickly covered with 

 soft hairs. The leaves are on short stalks, only slightly 

 toothed at their edges (when we compare them with such a 

 labiate as the white dead nettle, a plant we have already 

 figured) , soft to the touch, and, like the stems, clothed with 

 soft hair. In fact the whole plant, except the root and 

 blossom, has this soft grey covering. The flowers are a 

 pinkish purple, and arranged in rings round the stalk at the 

 points where the leaves are thrown off. These rings as the 

 flowering season advances become a dense mass of blossom, 

 but in our illustration we have selected the plant at an 

 earlier period, as we are thus able to show the shapes of in- 

 dividual flowers more clearly. 



The hedge-calamint flowers during July, August, and 

 September, and may be looked for in the hedgerow, and on 

 the borders of woods and copses, especially if the situation 

 be somewhat elevated, and the ground dry. It is common 

 in England and Scotland, but appears to be rare in Ireland, 

 the greater humidity of the air there having probably 

 something to do with this. 



