658 



THE LABIATE FAMILY. 



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 

 inflorescence, calyx, stamens, or ovary and fruit. 



Stem usually 8 inches to a foot high. Flowers blue, rather large 1. Common S. 

 Stem usually under 6 inches. Flowers pink, and small . . 2. Lesser S. 



Some of the Mexican or South American half-shrubby species, with 

 scarlet flowers, are occasionally cultivated in our planthouses. 



1. Common Skullcap. Scutellaria galericulata, Linn. 



(Fig. 789.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 523.) 



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 ra- 

 ther dingy blue ; the tube very slender 

 below, considerably enlarged at the 

 throat. 



In wet, shady, or stony places, in Eu- 

 rope, northern Asia, and north-east Ame- 

 rica, extending from the Himalaya and 

 the Caucasus to the Arctic Circle, but 

 rarer in the Mediterranean region. 

 Tolerably frequent in England and Ire- 

 land, less so in Scotland. Fl. summer. 





Fig. 789. 



2. Lesser Skullcap. Scutellaria minor, Linn. (Fig. 790.) 



(Eng. Bot. t. 524.) 

 A very small, and usually more glabrous plant than the common 



