58 



LABIAT7E. 



Lycopus. 



p. 9 ; Torr.fl. 1. p. 21 ; Beck, bot. p. 271 ; Darlingt.fl. Cest. p. 340 ; Benth. Lab. p. 185 ; 

 Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. p. 111. L. uniflorus, Michx. I. c. ; Torr. 1. c. ; Beck, I. c. L. 

 pumilus, Valil, enum. 1. p. 211 ; Pursh, I. c. 



Root perennial, creeping. Stem 10-18 inches high, often throwing out (particularly late 

 in the season) long filiform suckers, mostly purplish, obtusely angled with the sides concave, 

 simple or sparingly branched. Leaves 2 — 4 inches long, often of a dark purplish color ; the 

 base long, cuneate and entire. Flowers very minute, in close compact whorls ; sometimes 

 (in dwarf specimens) almost solitary. Calyx much shorter than the corolla ; the teeth rather 

 acute, but terminating in little spines. Corolla white, slightly dotted ; the tube a little 

 ventricose. Achenes rather longer than the calyx when mature. 



Shady wet grounds, and in moist woods ; common. July - August. This plant is a mild 

 astringent and narcotic, and has at different times been celebrated as a remedy for bleeding 

 of the lungs ; but its virtues have been greatly overrated. (See Wood and B ache's U. S. 

 Dispens. pp. 428 & 430.) 



Tribe II. MONARDEJE. Benth. 



Calyx 2-lipped. Stamens two fertile (the upper pair wanting), ascending : anthers linear, 

 with two contiguous cells which are divaricate at the base and confluent at the apex; 

 or halved, and the cells united by a long slender connective which is transversely 

 articulated to the summit of the filament. 



4. MONARDA. Linn. ; Benth. Lab. p. 315 ; Endl. gen. 3600. SAGE. 

 [ In honor of Nicholas Monardez, a Spanish botanist of the 16th century.] 



Calyx tubular, elongated, 15-nerved, nearly equal, 5 toothed. Corolla ringent : upper lip 

 linear, involving the filaments ; lower broader, reflexed, 3-lobed ; the lateral lobes ovate, 

 obtuse ; middle lobe narrower, oblong : tube slender. Stamens 2, exserted from the upper 

 lip of the corolla. Achenia smooth. — Perennial herbs, with toothed or crenate leaves. 

 Flowers large, in few dense whorls, with conspicuous bracts. 



]. Monarda didyma, Linn. Oswego Tea. 



Leaves ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, mostly rounded or somewhat cordate at the 

 base, a little hairy , the floral ones and large exterior bracts colored ; calyx smooth, incurved, 

 naked in the throat ; corolla smoothish.— Linn. sp. l.p. 22; Bot. mag. t. 546 ; Pursh, jl. 1. 

 p. 16 ; Torr. fl.l.p.24; Beck, bot. p. 275 ; Benth. Lab. p. 315 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 2. 

 p. 112. M. coccinea, Michx. fl. 1. p. 16. M. purpurea, Lam. diet. 4. p. 256. M. Kal- 

 miana, Pursh, I. c.t. 1. 



