MIXT FAMILY. 



230 



15. LA'MIUM, L. DEi^ D-XETTLE. 

 [Greek, Laimos, the throat ; from its gaping flowers.] 



Calyx tubular-campanulate, about 5-nerved ; teeth 5, nearly equal, subu- 

 late at apex. Corolla dilated at the throat, — the upper lip ovate or ob- 

 loug, arched, mostly narrowed at base ; lower lip with the middle or 

 lower lobe broad, emarginate, contracted at base and substipitate ; the 

 lateral ones small at the margin of the throat. Stamens 4, ascending 

 under the upper lip ; anthers approximated in pairs, 2-celled ; cells finally 

 divaricate. Akenes tricpetrous with the angles acute truncate at sum- 

 mit, smooth, or minutely rugose-tuberculate. 

 I. L.amplexicau'le. L. Leaves /i^ 



■ ■ • ■ - ■ . 



rounded, crenately incised, — the 

 lower ones petiolate — the floral 

 ones sessile, amplexicaul ; tube 

 of the corolla naked within, the 

 lateral lobes not toothed; an- 

 thers hirsute. 

 Stem-claspixg Lamium. — Dead 

 Nettle. Hen-bit. 

 Fr. Le Lamier. Germ. Die 

 Taube-nessel. Span. Ortiga 

 muerta. 



Root annual. Stems several, or much 

 branched from the base, decumbent 

 or ascending, 6-12 inches high, 

 mostly purplish. Leaves half an inch to 

 three quarters in length, and mostly- 

 wider than long, the lower or cauline 

 ones on petioles half an inch to an inch 

 long. Cymi<Z€- densely many-flowered, 

 axillary, the lower ones distant, the 

 upper ones rather approximated. Calyx 

 sessile, hirsute. Corolla bright purple, 

 pubescent, the galeate upper lip nearly 

 entire, clothed with a purple villus ; 

 lower lip obcordate ; throat dilated, 

 laterally compressed ; tube slender, 

 much exserted. The corolla, in the 

 lower cymules, is often minute or 

 wanting. 



151 



Id 2 



Gardens and cultivated lots : 

 April - May. Fr. June. 



introduced. Native of Europe and Northern Africa. Fl. 



Obs. This worthless little weed is abundantly naturalized in and about 

 our gardens in Pennsylvania, — and requires some attet tion to keep it in 



Fig. 151. A flower of the Garden Sage (Salvia oflBcinalis). 152. The same with the 

 corolla removed and the calyx divided to show the pistil and 4-lobed ovary. 153. The 

 Purple Lamium (lamiam amplexicaule). 



