Prunella. | LVI, LABIATA. 353 
it, Corolla usually of a violet purple, about 6 lines long, but varying much 
in size and depth of colour; the upper lip bends over the lower one, which 
is scarcely longer, with a broad, finely-toothed middle lobe. 
In pastures, on banks, etc., especially in rather moist situations, through- 
out Europe and central and Russian Asia, to the Arctic regions, extending 
also over many parts of North America, penetrating into the tropical 
mountains of America and Asia, and reappearing in Australia. Abundant 
in Britain. Fl. summer and autwmn. In some countries it varies much 
more than in Britain, in stature and foliage, as well as in the size and 
colour of the flowers. 
IX. SCUTELLARIA. SKULLCAP. 
Herbs (rarely shrubby in some exotic species), usually rather weak or 
straggling, with the flowers always solitary in the axil of each leaf, either 
all in distant axillary pairs, or, in some exotic species, forming terminal 
spikes or racemes. Calyx divided into 2 lips, both entire ; the upper one 
bearing on its back a hollow, scale-like protuberance. Corolla with a rather 
long tube, and small, nearly closed lips, the upper one concave, the lower 
one 3-lobed. Stamens 4, in pairs, the anthers of the lower pair 1-celled. 
Nuts raised on a short, oblique or curved stalk, 
A rather large genus, widely distributed over the temperate and some of 
the warmer regions of the globe, and easily recognized, either by its in- 
florescence, calyx, stamens, or ovary and fruit. 
- Stem usually 8 inches toa foot high. Flowers blue, rather large 1. S. galericulata, 
Stem usually under 6 inches. Flowers pink, and small ., . 2 S. minor. 
Some of the Mexican or South American half-shrubby species, with 
scarlet flowers, are occasionally cultivated in our planthouses. 
1. S.galericulata, Linn. (fig. 794). Common Skullcap.—A weak, 
slightly downy perennial, with a slender, creeping rootstock, and slightly 
branched, ascending stems, 8 inches to a foot high, Leaves nearly sessile, 
ovate-lanceolate, slightly toothed. Flowers nearly sessile, opposite, in axil- 
lary pairs along the greater part of the stem, and all turned to one side ; 
- the corolla more than 6 lines long, of a rather dingy blue; the tube very 
slender below, considerably enlarged at the throat. 
In wet, shady, or stony places, in Europe, northern Asia, and north-east 
America, extending from the Himalaya and the Caucasus to the Arctic 
Circle, but rarer in the Mediterranean region. ‘Tolerably frequent in Eng- 
Jand and Scotland, lessso in Ireland. 7. swmmer. [A remarkable variety 
(or hybrid ?) occurs at Virginia Water, Surrey, which unites the characters 
of this and S. minor. | 
2, S. minor, Linn. (fig. 795). Lesser Skulleap.—A very small, and 
usually more glabrous plant than S. galericulata, with slender stems, 
seldom 6 inches long. Leaves of the same shape, but nearly entire. 
Flowers shortly stalked, scarcely above 3 lines long, of a pale pink. 
In moist heaths or marshy sands, chiefly in western Europe, more rare 
in central Europe, extending however across northern Germany into Russia 
and central Asia, but neither a high northern, nor scarcely a Mediterra- 
nean plant. In Britain, chiefly in western England, Ireland, and south- 
western Scotland, £7. summer. 
Aa 
