236 



WEEDS AND USEFUL PLANTS. 



Garden Satureja. Summer Savory. 



Fr. La Sarriette. Germ. Die Saturey. Span. Ajedrea. 



Root annual. Stem 6-12 inches high, obscurely 4-angled, branched so as to appear 

 bnshy, roughish-pubescent, mostly dark purple. Leaves half an inch to an inch long, 

 narrowed at base to a very short petiole. Cymules about 3 flowered — the upper ones 

 crowded into a leafy spike. Corolla pale violet-purple, somewhat pubescent, scarcely 

 longer than the hispid-ciliate calyx-teeth. > 



Gardens : cultivated. Native of Southern Europe. July -August, i^r, September. 



Obs. Cultivated as a culinary herb. 



10. ORI'GANUM, L. Marjoram. 



[Greek, Oros, a mountain, and Ganos, delight ; in allusion to its native locality.] 



Calyx ovoid bell-shaped, hairy in the throat, 5-toothed or bilabiate with 

 the upper lip entire or 3-toothed, the lower lip 2-toothed, truncate or 

 wanting. Corolla 2-lipped ; upper lip emarginate ; lower lip longer, 3- 

 lobed and spreading. Stamens 4, exserted, diverging. Annuals or peren- 

 nials with nearly entire leaves and flowers in dense corymbose clusters or 

 oblong spikes, imbricated with colored bracts. 



1. 0. Marjora'na, L. Somewhat branched ; leaves elliptic-obovate, 

 downy and canescent on both sides ; spikelets oblong, clustered at the 

 ends of the branches. 

 Sweet Marjoram. 



Fr. La Marjolaine. Germ. Der Majoran. Span. Majorana. 



Root annual. Stem 9-18 inches high, subterete. Leaves one third of an inch to an inch 

 long, varying from ovate to obovate and spatulate. Spikelets one fourth to half an inch 

 long, obtusely 4-cornered, hoary-pubescent, in sessile terminal clusters of threes, or on 

 short axillary branches ; bracts very obtuse or rounded, ciliate-pubescent, quadrifariously 

 and densely imbricated, the margins at base involute. Calyx with the upper lip free, 

 like a distinct sepal, dilated, obtuse, ciliate-pilose and mostly 3-toothed at apex, narrowed 

 below with the margins folded in, the lower lip or division ovate, smooth, very small. 

 Corolla white or tinged with purple. 



Gardens; cultivated. Native of Africa and Asia. i*'?. July -Aug. Fr. September. 



Obs. One of the fragrant culinary herbs, generally cultivated. 

 U. THT'MUS, L. Thyme. 



[The ancient Greek name ; from Thyo^ to burn perfume.] 



Calyx ovoid-tubular, 10-13 nerved, bilabiate, — the upper lip triM — 

 the lower one bifid ; throat villous. Corolla with the upper lip erect, 

 nearly flat, emarginate, — the lower lip spreading, 3-lobed, middle lobe 

 longer. Stamens 4, exserted, diverging. Humble shrubby or suffruticose 

 perennials, with small and entire strongly veined leaves and purplish or 

 whitish flowers. 



1. T. vulga'ris, L. Stems erect or procumbent at base ; leaves oblong- 

 ovate or lance-ovate, revolute on the margin ; cymules in terminal inter- 

 rupted leafy spikes. 



Common' Thyjtus. Garden Thyme. Standing Thyme. 



