Descriptive Flora 



179 



parts of the many, slender, erect, grooved branches. Leaves 

 simple, opposite. Uppermost blades frequently narrowly linear, 

 those farther down the stem deeply cut into few, narrow lobes, 

 and the basal veiny, ovate, with shallowly lobed or toothed mar- 

 gins, and blade narrowed into petioles at base. Corolla deep 

 lavender or blue, less than y± across, 5-lobed. Calyx narrow, 

 with 5 sparingly hairy lobes. A tiny green bract, little over y 2 

 the length of the calyx subtends the calyx in fruit. Sandy soil 

 south of San Antonio. Roadsides and waste places. 



Lippia nodiflora Michx. 

 (Phyla nodiflora [L.] Greene.) 



Low creeping plants with opposite leaves and compact, white 

 or purplish, thimble-shaped or oblong clusters of very small, 

 white flowers solitary on slender axillary peduncles longer than 

 the leaves. Leaves simple, opposite, or clustered. Blades wedge- 

 shaped, about 1 inch long, saw-toothed above the middle. Corollas 

 4 or 5-lobed, about 1/12" across, usually forming a white ring 

 close to the top of the short purplish spikes. Creeping in low, 

 wet grounds where the stems root frequently at the nodes or on 

 dry rocky hillsides where stems grow 1 to 3 feet long, lie on the 

 ground and spread but do not take root. April to November. 

 Named for Lippi, a French naturalist. 



Lippia lycioides (Lag.) Steud White Brush. Bee Brush. 

 (Aloysia ligmtrina [Lag.] Small.) 



Shrubs with pale, brittle branches and very fragrant, slender 

 branched spikes (1 to 3 inches long) of small, white flowers. 

 Leaves simple, opposite. Blades fragrant, slender, less than 1 

 inch long. Corolla tubular, 4 or 5-lobed, about across. Calyx 

 4-lobed, minutely hairy. Fruit minute, dry, inclosed in a hairy 

 calyx. Blooms continuously from spring to fall. Bushes grow 

 singly or in patches and form almost impenetrable thickets in 

 low ground. Very closely related to the "lemon verbena" of 

 gardens. 



