230 



WEEDS x^XD USEFUL PLANTS. 



1. 0. BASiL'icrai, L. Laaves ovate-oblong, subdentate, smooth, with 

 ciliate petioles ; calyx reflexed after flowering. 



Royal Ocbiu.m. Sweet Basil. 



Fr. Basilic. Genii. Gemeines Basilienkraut. Span. Albahaca. 



Boot annual. Stem 6-12 inches higti, often much branched, smoothish at base, pubes- 

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

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

 tiated-campanulate. Corolla whitish or bluish-white. 



Gardens : cultivated. Xative of India. Fl. July. Fr. September. 



Obs. This fragrant little plant is one of the numerous kitchen-garden 

 herbs, usually cultivated for culinary purposes. 



2. LAYAX'DULA, L. Layexder. 



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



Calyx tubular, ovoid-cylindric, ribbed, with 5 short teeth, the upper one 

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

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

 Stamens 4, included ; filaments smooth, not toothed. Akenes smooth 

 and even, adnate to 4 fleshy scales on the margin of the disk. Peren- 

 nial herbs, or suffrutlcose plants, — the stems leafy near the base, but often 

 naked below the spike. Flowers in terminal spikes. 

 1. L. ve'ra, DC. Leaves hoary, lance-linear, entire, revolute on the 

 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 the 

 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. The compound tincture of the 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 with linen, and the oil distilled 

 from them is much used in the manufacture of perfumery. 



3. MEX'THA, L. Mixt. 



[From Minthe, a nymph ; fabled to have been changed into this plant.] 



Calyx 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 para-lel cells. Pe- 



