SELF-KEAL. COMMON SELF-HEAL. 



51 



ground. Leaves simply pinnate, with roundish acutely 

 serrated spinas. Floral leaves deeply divided ; segments 

 toothed. Leaves and flowers crowded. Flowers in June, 

 and is found in wet pastures, heaths, and woods, in most 

 parts of Europe. 



This weed may be got rid of by removing the wetness of 

 the land by draining, and by top-dressing the surface with 

 compost manures. 



15. The "Self-heal," or the "Prunella" of botany, is a 

 very abundant weed on poor clay soils, in pastures of two 

 and three years. The plant belongs to the class and order 

 " Didynamia Gymospermia" of Linneus, and the natural 

 order " Labiatse" of Jussieu. 



Generic characters. — Calyx : perianth one-leafed, two- 

 hpped, shorter in the throat, permanent; upper lip flat, 

 wider, truncate, very slightly three- toothed ; lower lip 

 erect, narrower, acute, semibifid. CoroHa: one-petalled, 

 ringent ; tube short, cyhndrical ; throat oblong ; upper lip 

 concave, entire, nodding ; lower lip reflex, trifid, blunt ; 

 middle segment wider, emarginate, serrate. Stamina : 

 filaments four, awl-shaped, forked at top, two of them a 

 little longer than the others ; anthers simple, inserted into 

 the filaments below the top as it were on another branch. 

 Pistil : germen four-parted ; style filiform, with the stamens 

 bending to the upper lip; stigma bifid. Pericarp none; 

 calyx closed, containing the seeds. Seeds four, subovate. 



Esseniial character. — Filaments forked at the apex, 

 with an anther on one of the forks ; stigma bifid. 



The "common self-heal," or the "Prunella vulgaris," has 

 the root perennial, and very fibrous. The whole plant is 

 thinly set with hairs, the hairs upright and white. Stem 

 from six to twelve inches in height, upright, commonly 

 branching from the very bottom, hairy, purplish, especially 

 towards the top. Branches in pairs at each joint, brachiate, 

 ascending. Leaves bluntish, hairy, obsoletely toothed or 

 repand ; petioles channelled above, and hairy along the 

 edges. The flower is violet-coloured, with a white tube, 

 and easily falls. Seeds smooth, brown, terminated by a 



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