166 
MENTHA PULEGIUM, 
Penny Royal.* 
Class DiDYNAMiA. — Order Gymnospermia. 
JNat. Ord. Verticillatje, Liim. Labiate, Juss. 
Gen. Char. Corolla not quite equal, four-lobed — Stamens 
erect, spreading. 
Spec. Char, i^/ower* wliorled . Leaves oxaie. »Sfem pros- 
trate. Flower-stalks and Calyx downy. 
Penny Royal is a native species of mint, and much often^r met 
with in its wild state than either peppermint or spearmint ; it is 
usually found in moist places on commons and heaths ; it flowers the 
latter end of August and September. There are two or three varieties 
of penny royal cultivated in our gardens ; these chiefly differ from the 
wild species in the form of the leaf, which is longer and narrower 
than in our native species, they also rise to a greater height, but 
possess the same qualities as the indigenous; as such thev are gene- 
rally used for domestic and medicinal purposes. The root is creeping, 
and puts forth numerous, slender, bluntly quadrangular stems, which 
are procumbent at the lower part, and rise to the height of eight 
or nine inches, the upper part is somewhat downy ; the leaves are 
about an inch in length, ovate, obtuse, unequally serrated and stand 
on short footstalks; the under surface is slightly hairy ; the whorls 
are axillary, and supported on short peduncles; the flowers are 
numerous, and stand on short downy purplish stalks; the calyx is 
nearly cylindrical, five-cleft, strongly' furrowed, and downy, the 
segments of which are unequal, pointed, and fringed ; the corolla is 
longer than the calyx, of a pale lilac or purple colour,! externally 
hairy 3 the stamens are erect and longer than the corolla ; the 
germen is four-cleft, and supports a slender style, crowned with a 
bifid stigma ; the germen becomes four naked seeds. 
* rig a. represents a plant of the natural size, b, A perfect flower, (magnified). 
e. The calyx, d. The pistil lum. 
f There is a variety occasionally met with which has white flowers. Ed. 
