654 



THE LABIATE FAMILY. 



Germany. Frequent in England and 

 Ireland, but not in Scotland. Fl. sum- 

 mer. The following marked varieties 

 have been usually considered as species, 

 but they run so much into one another 

 that botanists are now disposed to unite 

 them : — 



a. Small-flowered C. (Fig. 784, Thymus 

 Nepeta, Eng. Bot. t. 1414.) 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 Eng- 

 land. 



b. Common C. {Thymus Calamintha, 

 Eng. Bot. t. 1676.) 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. Wood C. (C. sylvatica, Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2897.) Eootstock 

 more creeping. Stem taller. Leaves often 2 to 3 inches long. Cymes 

 loose. Flowers showy, often an inch long, the corolla full twice as 

 long as the calyx. In woods, and under hedges, common on the Conti- 

 nent, especially in the south, but not extending in Britain beyond the 

 Isle of Wight. 



Fig. 784. 



3. Hedge Calamint. Calamintha Clinopodium, Benth. 

 (Fig. 785.) 



(Clinopodium vulgar e, Eng. Bot. t. 1401. 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 subu- 

 late, 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. 



