230 



WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



I. 0. basil'icum, L. Leaves ovate-oblong, subdentate, smootli, with 

 ciliate petioles ; calyx reflexed after flowering. 



EoYAL OciMUM. Sweet Basil. 



Fr. Basilic. Germ. Gemeines Basilienkraut. Span. Alb abaca. 



Root annual. Stem 6-12 inches higla, often mncli branched, smoothish at base, pubes- 

 cent above with short reflexed hairs. Leaves half an inch to an inch long ; pdiMes one- 

 third to two-thirds of an inch long. Bracts ovate, acuminate, petiolate, ciliate. Calyx in- 

 flated-campanulate. CoroUa whitish or bluish-white. 



Gardens : cultivated. Native of India. Fl. 3\i\j. Fr. September. 



Obs. Tbis fragrant little plant is one of tbe numerous kitcben-garden 

 berbs, usually cultivated for culinary purposes. 



2. LAYAN'DULA, i. Lavender. 



[Latin, Javare, to wash, — the distilled water being used for that purpose.] 



Calyx tubular, ovoid-cj^lindric, ribbed, witb 5 sbort teetb, tbe upper one 

 sometimes dilated and produced at apex. Corolla with tbe upper lip 2- 

 iobed, and tbe lower one 3-lobed ; lobes all nearly equal, spreading. 

 Stamens 4, included ; filaments smootb, not tootbed. Akenes smootb 

 and even, adnate to 4 flesby scales on tbe margin of tbe disk. Peren- 

 nial herbs, or suffruticose plants, — tbe stems leafy near tbe base, but often 

 naked below tbe spike. Floivers in terminal spikes. 

 1. L. ve'ra, -DC. Leaves boary, lance-linear, entire, revolute on tbe 

 margin ; spikes interrupted. 

 True Lavandula. Lavender. Garden Lavender. 

 Fr. La Lavande. Germ. Der Lavandel. Span. Espliego. 



Plant clothed with a short hoary tomentum. Stem suffruticose, branching from tho 

 base ; branches erect, 12-28 inches high. Leaves 1-2 inches long, crowded near the base 

 of the branches, — often with fascicles of young leaves in the axils. Flowers in a terminal 

 imbricated spike about an inch in length, with 1-2 distant cymules below. Corolla blue, 

 pubescent, nearly twice as long as the calyx: 



Gardens : cultivated. Native of Southern Europe and shores of the Mediterranean. 

 Fl. July. Fr. September. 



Obs. Tbe compound tincture of tbe flowers of this herb (or, as the 

 good ladies term it, " Lavender Compound" — ) is deservedly popular, for 

 its cordial and stomachic properties. The distilled water is also highly 

 esteemed for its pungent and grateful fragrance. The dried flowers are 

 used to fill scent bags to lay in drawers witb linen, and the oil distilled 

 from them is much used in tbe manufacture of perfumery. 



3. MENTHA, L. Mint. 



[From Minllie, a ujanph ; fabled to have been changed into this plant.] 



CalijX campanulate or tubular, 5-toothed, equal or nearly so. Corolla 

 with a short included tube ; the border nearly equally 4-cleft, — the up- 

 per lobe broader and usually emarginate. Stamens 4, nearly equal, erect, 

 distant ; filaments glabrous, naked ; anthers with 2 parallel cells. Pe- 



