LABIATE FAMILY 



383 



sometimes with no flowers in their axils ; calyx-teeth lanceolate- 

 acuminate. — Wet places ; common. — Fl. July — September. 

 Perennial. 



9. M. rubra (Red Mint), a less hairy plant with red veins to its 

 leaves, is a not uncommon form of the preceding. 



10. M. gracilis (Slender Mint), includes slender, green, and 



nearly smooth forms with 



the leaves, especially the 



upper ones, sessile or 



nearly so, and the smell 



of Basil. J\L \1^\ WjA- 



ii. M. gentilis has "^ 



spreading, rather thick 

 leaves, nearly all of one 

 size and hairy along their 

 veins. It is a not un- 

 common type. 



12. M. arvensis (Corn 

 Mint), a branched, 

 downy plant, 6 — 18 in. 

 high, with stalked, ovate, 

 serrate, hairy leaves, either 

 acute or blunt, all nearly 

 equal in size ; and small 

 lilac flowers in dense, 

 distant whorls ; calyx 

 bell-shaped, with deltoid 

 teeth, hairy. This last is 

 the most constant cha- 

 racter by which to dis- 

 tinguish the forms of this 

 group from the four pre- 

 ceding ones. — Cornfields; 

 common. The plant has 

 a strong smell. — Fl. July 

 — September. Perennial. 



Iff Whorls distant, in the axils of the lower leaves 



13. M. Pulegium (Pennyroyal). — The smallest of the genus, 

 and very different in habit from any of the others ; the stems are 

 prostrate ; the leaves small, shortly-stalked, ovate, nearly smooth ; 

 the flowers red, in distant, globose, many-flowered whorls ; calyx 

 downy, its mouth closed with hairs. — Wet heathy places; not 

 common. The whole plant has an agreeable perfume and flavour, 



Lvropus europ^us (Common Gipsy-worf). 



