Calamintha."] LVII. LABIATE. 351 



a. O. Nepeta, Clairv. Rootstock scarcely creeping. Leaves about 

 half an inch long, nearly entire. Flowers about 6 lines long, the cymes 

 contracted into loose whorls of about 10, the corolla half as long again 

 as the calyx. On dry, open, sunny banks. Abundant on the Continent 

 and not uncommon in England. 



b. C. officinalis. Leaves larger than in the last, and more toothed. 

 Flowers nearly twice as long as the calyx. Intermediate between the 

 two other varieties, and not quite so common as either. 



c. 0. sylvatica, Bromf. Rootstock more creeping. Stem taller. 

 Leaves often 2 to 3 inches long. Cymes loose. Flowers showy, often 

 an inch long, the corolla fully twice as long as the calyx. In woods, 

 and under hedges, common on the Continent, especially in the south, 

 extending in Britain to the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, and Devonshire. 



3. C. Clinopodium, Benth. (fig. 792). Hedge (7., Wild Basil.— 

 Rootstock shortly creeping. Stems annual, erect or ascending, branched, 

 and softly hairy, 1 to 2 feet high. Leaves stalked, ovate, slightly 

 toothed, almost 2 inches long, soft and hairy. Flowers purple, in dense 

 cymes, forming compact whorls or heads in the axils of the upper leaves, 

 or at the ends of the branches, and surrounded by subulate, hairy 

 bracts. Calyx about 3 lines long, with subulate, hairy teeth, the 3 

 upper ones shortly united by their broad base. Tube of the corolla 

 rather longer than the calyx-teeth. 



Under hedges, and on the borders of woods, throughout Europe and 

 Russian Asia, except the extreme north. Rather frequent in England 

 and southern Scotland, rare in Ireland. Fl. summer. 



VII. NEPETA. NEPETA. 



Creeping or erect herbs, with flowers usually blue, in axillary whorls 

 or terminal spikes. Calyx tubular, 15-ribbed, its mouth oblique and 

 5-toothed, the upper teeth usually the longest. Corolla with a rather 

 long tube, the throat enlarged ; the upper lip erect, slightly concave, 

 notched or 2-lobed ; the lower lip spreading and 3-lobed. Stamens 4, 

 in pairs under the upper lip, the upper or inner pair the longest. 



An extensive European and Asiatic genus, the great centre of which 

 is in western Asia. With a few other exotic genera, it forms a tribe 

 among Labiatce, known as well by the ribs of the calyx always 15, not 

 13 as in Calamintha, nor 10 or 5 as in the generality of Labiatce, as by 

 the stamens, of which the upper or central pair project above the 

 outer ones, whilst in most Labiatce the outer ones project above the 

 inner ones. 



Stem creeping or prostrate. Flowers axillary 1. N. Glechoma. 



Stem tall and erect. Flowers in terminal spikes or clusters . . 2. JV. Cataria. 



The N. Nepetella, from continental Europe, and one or two eastern 

 species, are occasionally cultivated in flower-gardens. 



1. N. Glechoma, Benth. (fig. 793). Ground-Ivy.— A more or less 

 hairy perennial, creeping and rooting at the base, often to a consider- 

 able length ; the flowering stems shortly ascending. Leaves orbicular, 

 crenate, deeply cordate at the base, the lower ones on rather long 

 stalks. Flowers blue, from f to near an inch long, in axillary whorls 



