64 



LABIATE. 



Pycnanthemum. 



6. Pycnanthemum linifolium, Pursh. Narrow- leaved Virginian Thyme. 



Stem smooth ; leaves narrowly linear, rigid, entire ; bracts ovate-lanceolate, somewhat 

 awned ; teeth of the calyx lanceolate-subulate. — Pursh, fl. 2. p. 409 ; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 33 ; 

 Ell. sic. 2. p. 32 ; Torr. compencl. p. 234 ; Beck, bot. p. 273 ; Benth. Lab. p. 330 ; Gray, 

 l. c. Thymus Virginicus, Linn. syst. p. 453 (fide Benth.). Brachystemum linifolium, 

 Willd. enum. p. 623. 



Stem 1-2 feet high, much branched in a fastigiate manner. Leaves crowded, about an 

 inch long and 1-2 lines wide, 3 - 5-nerved, acute, sprinkled with brownish dots. Heads 

 very numerous, about one-third of an inch in diameter, hemispherical ; the flowers much 

 crowded. Bracts closely imbricated ; the midrib produced into a cusp or short awn. Corolla 

 pubescent, white spotted with purple : upper lip notched. Stamens usually a little exserted, 

 but sometimes shorter than the corolla. 



Moist thickets and exsiccated swamps. July - August ; beginning to flower about two 

 weeks earlier than the preceding species. 



7. ORIGANUM. Linn. ; Benth. Lab. p. 334. WILD MARJORAM. 



[ From the Greek, oros, a mountain, and ganos, joy ; because many of the species are fragrant and handsome, and 



abound in hilly places.] 



Calyx ovate-tubular, villous in the throat, 5-toothed ; the teeth equal or nearly so. Corolla 

 somewhat 2-lipped ; the upper lip somewhat erect, emarginate ; the lower spreading, almost 

 equally 3-cleft. Stamens 4 ; the lower pair somewhat longer. — Herbs, with entire or 

 somewhat toothed leaves, and flowers in cylindrical or oblong spikes which are rather loosely 

 imbricated with mostly colored bracts. 



1. Origanum vulgare, Linn. Common Wild Marjoram. 



Erect, villous ; leaves petiolate, broadly ovate, obtuse, broad and rounded at the base, green 

 on both sides, obscurely toothed ; spikes roundish, glomerate, corymbose-paniculate ; bracts 

 ovate, obtuse, colored, longer than the calyx. — Linn. sp. 2. p. 590 ; Engl. bot. t. 1143 ; 

 Pursh, Jl. 2. p. 135 ; Torr. compend. p. 236 ; Beck, bot. p. 274 ; Darlingt.fi. Cest. p. 346 ; 

 Benth. Lab. p. 335. 



Root perennial, creeping. Stem about a foot high, corymbosely branched at the summit, 

 usually of a purplish color. Leaves an inch long, with several indistinct serratures on each 

 side ; the petiole 3-5 lines long. Panicles terminal and in the axils of the uppermost leaves, 

 composed of numerous small closely aggregated heads or spikes. Bracts variable in length, 

 but usually a little longer than the calyxes, tinged with purple. Calyx pubescent, with a 

 dense tuft of white hairs in the throat. Corolla pale purple, pubescent. Stamens and style 

 exserted. 



Rocky banks and thickets ; common on the Hudson as high as Troy ; not frequent in the 



