382 



LABIAT/E 



as a pot-herb, and is distinguishable by its pungent smell. — Fl. 

 August, September. Perennial. 



5. M. piperita (Peppermint). — A smaller, more slender, gla- 

 brous species, 1 — 1 \ feet high, with stalked, ovate-lanceolate, acute, 

 serrate leaves ; spikes short, lax, blunt, and interrupted below ; 

 bracts lanceolate ; calyx often red. — Wet places ; uncommon. 

 Perhaps a cultivated form of M. hirsiita.—F\. July — September. 



Perennial. 



6. M. pubes cen s 

 (Downy Mint). — Stem 

 12 — 18 in. high; leaves 

 stalked, ovate-oblong, 

 serrate, hairy above, 

 woolly beneath ; spikes 

 cylindric, stout, dense, 

 interrupted below. — 

 Middle and south of 

 England only; rare. — 

 Fl. August, September. 

 Perennial. 



7. M. hirsuta (Hairy 

 Mint, Capitate Mint). — 

 The commonest and 

 one of the most variable 

 of the Mints, growing 

 in extensive masses in 

 wet places, 1 — 4 feet 

 high, with a strong 

 smell ; leaves stalked, 

 ovate, serrate, acute, 

 downy on both surfaces; 

 flowers pale lavender, in 

 axillary and terminal 

 rounded heads, hairy. — 

 Banks of rivers and 

 marshes ; abundant. 



The Bergamot Mint (M. citrdta) is a glabrous form.— Fl. July- 

 September. Perennial. 



ft Whorls in the axils of leafy bracts 



8. M. saiiva (Marsh Whorled Mint). — With difficulty separated 



from the preceding; but growing 2—5 feet high, with leaves 



green, though hairy on both surfaces, and with all the whorls of 



flowers separate, all the bracts leafy, and the uppermost ones 



m£ntha HiRstTA {Hairy Mint). 



