52 



WHIRLED MINTS. 



PL. XXIII. 



23. PENNY-ROYAL. 



THE main ftalk of this plant is fquare, like the reft of the mints, but 

 is not fo deeply furrowed: it reclines on the ground, and fends forth 

 numerous fmall branches, which are almoft round; the leaves are ovate, 

 fmall, obtufe, and crenated. The rundles of flowers fit in the bofoms of 

 the leaves at every joint; they are of a beautiful purple colour, and the 

 ftamens are longer than the bloffom. 



This ufeful plant is fo well known in all families, and treated of by 

 fo many authors, that it is needlefs here to enlarge upon it; but it was 

 neceffary to introduce it to perfect my deiign, that of exhibiting a com- 

 pleat fet of Plates of all the Britifh Mints hitherto difcovered. 



The fine fpecimen from which this plate was taken, I gathered in the 

 beginning of September, in a pond at the back of the Ball-faced Stag, 

 Epping-Foreft, in 1793, where it grows abundantly, and in great lux- 

 uriance. 



