650 



THE LABIATE FAMILY. 



evidently notched, thus showing a 

 slight approach to the characters of 

 Thyme. 



In wet ditches, and marshy places, 

 most abundant in the Mediterranean 

 region, but extending over Europe and 

 western Asia, and introduced into 

 other parts of the world. Scattered 

 over the greater part of England and 

 southern Ireland, but appears to have 

 been falsely indicated in Scotland. 

 Fl. end of summer. 





Fig. 780. 



IY. THYMES. THYMUS. 



Low, much branched, spreading or procumbent undershrubs or 

 herbs, with small leaves, usually entire, the flowers in terminal leafy 

 heads or loose spikes. Calyx 2-lipped; the upper lip 3-toothed, the 

 lower 2-cleft, the mouth closed with hairs after flowering. Corolla with 

 the upper lip erect, nearly flat ; the lower spreading, broadly 3-lobed. 

 Stamens (when perfect) 4, the lower ones diverging, as long as or 

 longer than the corolla. 



The genus comprises several species, chiefly from the Mediterranean 

 region and central Asia, where they are very variable and often diffi- 

 cult to determine. In northern Europe, however, there is but one 

 species wild. The garden Thyme, so much cultivated as a potherb, is 

 the T vulgaris, from southern Europe. 



1. Wild Thyme. Thymus Serpyllum, Linn. (Fig. 781.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 1514. T Chamcedrys, Bab. Man.) 



Stems procumbent, slender, very much branched, perennial, and 

 hard but scarcely woody at the base, forming low dense tufts, from a 

 few inches to near a foot in diameter, and often almost covered with 

 the purple flowers. Leaves very small, ovate or oblong, fringed at the 

 base by a very few long hairs on each side ; the floral leaves similar but 

 smaller. Elowers usually 6 in the whorl, without any other bracts 



