MINT FAMILY. 



233 



Obs. A very showy plant, often found in fertile soil along streams, 

 and very common in gardens. 



2. M. pniicta'ta, L. Leaves lanceolate, narrowed at base ; bracts lan- 

 ceolate, obtuse at base, yellowish and purple ; calyx pubescent, with 

 short rigid teeth ; corolla nearly smooth, yellowish, the upper lip spot- 

 ted ; stamens not exceeding the upper lip of the corolla. 



Horse-mint. 



Boot perennial or biennial? Stem 2-3 feet high, obtusely 4-angIed, whitish downy. 

 Flowers in several whorls ; cahjx somewhat curved with a short beard in the throat. 

 Sandy fields Xew York and Southward. August -September. 



Ohs. This very odorous and pungent plant abounds in a volatile oil, 

 and possesses stimulant qualities which give it a place among the do- 

 mestic remedies, it being used in cholics, &c. The oil which the plant 

 affords by distillation is one of the most powerful of its class, and is 

 used as an external application in rheumatism, &c. It should be used 

 with caution, as it in some persons blisters the skin. In some parts of 

 the South the plant is incorrectly called " Origanum," which has been 

 corrupted into " Rignum." * 



6. SAL'YIA, L. Sage. 



[Latin, saliure, to save ; on account of supposed medicinal virtues.] 



Calyx subcampanulate, bilabiate, — the upper lip mostly 3- toothed — the 

 lower one bifid ; throat naked. Corolla ringent, — the upper lip erect, 

 straight, or falcate. Stamens 2 ; anthers halved, — the cells separated by 

 the long linear connective, which is transversely articulated with the fila- 

 ment. Flowers mostly large and showy, in spiked racemed or panicled 

 whorls. 



1. S. offioina'lis, L. Stem shrubby at base, leafy, hoary-tomentose ; 

 leaves lance-oblong, crenulate, rugose ; upper lip of the corolla as long 

 as the lower one, somewhat vaulted. (See figs. 152 and 153.) 

 Officinal Salvia. Sage. Garden Sage. 

 Fr. La Sauge. Germ. Die Salbei. Span. Salvia. 



perennial. Stemsl-2 feet high, growing in bunches, branching from the base. 

 Leaves 1-2 or 3 inches long, rather obtuse, sometimes lobed near the base, clothed with 

 a short pubescence, greyish green, — the upper or floral leaves sessile — the others on 

 petioles about an inch long. Cymules 5-10-flowered, in interrupted terminal racemes. 

 Corolla mostly violet-purple. 

 Gardens : cultivated. Native of Southern Europe. Fl. May -.June. Fr. July- August. 



Ohs. Generally cultivated in kitchen gardens, for culinary purposes. 

 The infusion makes a good gargle, and is otherwise moderately medicinal. 

 The plant would seem to have been once considered as a kind of pan- 

 acea, if we may judge from the following monkish lines : 



" Cur moriatur homo cui Salma crescit in horto? 

 Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis. 

 Salvia salvatrix, Xatar?e conciliatrix. 

 Salvia cum RvXa faciunt tibi pocula tuta." 



