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THY'MUS* *. 



Linnean Class and Order. DiDYNA'MiAf, Gymnospe'rmia £. 



Natural Order. Labia'tac§, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 1 10. — Sm. Gram. 

 ofBot.p.99. Eng. FI. v. iii. p. 63. — Lindl. Syn. p. 196. Intr. to Nat. 

 Syst. of Bot. p. 239. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 439. — Bentham, in Bot. 

 Reg. (1829.) — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 528. — Syringales; sect. 

 MenthiNvE ; type, Menthaceas ; subtype, Saturidae ; Burn. 

 Outl. of Bot. pp.' 900, 958, 968, & 972. — Verticilatje, of Linn. 



Gen. Char. Calyx (figs. 1 & 2.) inferior, of 1 sepal, 10-ribbed, 

 tubular, 2-lipped, upper lip broadest, 3-toothed ; lower lip bifid ; 

 throat closed by converging hairs (see fig. 7.) Corolla (figs. 3 

 & 4.) ringent ; tube about as long as the calyx : 2-lipped, upper 

 lip upright, nearly flat, blunt, with a small notch ; lower lip 

 spreading and 3-lobed, middle lobe entire. Filaments (see figs. 

 3, 4, & 5.) 4, slender, distant. Anthers 2-celled, cells parallel. 

 Germen (fig. 6.) 4-cleft. Style (fig. 6.) thread-shaped. Stigma 

 (see figs. 2 & 6.) in 2 pointed segments. Seeds 4, small, roundish, 

 in the bottom of the closed calyx. 



Distinguished from other genera, with a 2-lipped calyx, in the 

 same class and order, by the bell-shaped calyx, the throat closed 

 with converging hairs ; and the lower lip of the corolla with the 

 middle lobe entire. This last character will distinguish it from the 

 genus Calamentha ; and the bell-shaped calyx, not gibbous at the 

 base, from that of Acinos. 



One species British. 



THY'MUS SERPY'LLUM||. Wild Thyme. Mother of Thyme. 

 Shepherd’s Thyme. 



Spec. Char. Flowers in small heads. Stems branched, de- 

 cumbent. Leaves flat, egg-shaped, blunt, entire ; petiolate, and 

 more or less ciliated at the base. 



Engl. Hot. t. 1415. — Curt. FI. Lond. t. . — I.inn. Sp. PI. p. 825. — Huds. 

 FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p.262. — Sin. FI. Brit. v. ii. p 639. Engl. FI. v. iii. p. 107. — 

 With. (7th ed.) v. iii. p. 719. — Lindl. Syn. p. 204. — Hook. Brit. FI. p.272 — 

 Lightf. FI. Scot. v. i. p. 318. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 188. — Abbot’s FI. Bedf. p. 

 132. — Purt. Midi. FI. v. i. p. 279. — Relh. FI. Cantab. (3rd ed.) p.246. — Hook. 

 FI. Scot. p. 185. — Grev. FI. Edin. p. 134. — FI. Devon, pp. 101 & 146. — Johnst. 

 FI. of Berw. v. i. p. 134. — Walk. FI. of Oxf. p. 170. — Bab. FI. Bath. p. 39. — 

 Mack. Cat. of PI. of Irel. p. 57. — Serpyllum vulgdre, Ray’s Syn. p. 230. — 

 Johnson’s Gerarde, p. 570. 



Localities. — O n heaths and dry mountainous ground. Common. 

 Perennial. — Flowers from June to August. 



Root woody, fibrous, somewhat creeping, and of a brownish 

 colour. Stems numerous, slender, woody, recumbent, more or 



Figs. 1 & 2. Calyx. — Figs. 3 & 4. Corolla and Stamens. — Fig. 5. Vertical 

 section of Corolla, showing the 4 Stamens and the Pistil. — Fig. 6. Germen, 

 Style, and Stigma. — Fig. 7. Part of a Capitulum, after the corollas had fallen 

 off. — All, except figs. 6 & 7, a little larger than nature. 



* From thumos, Gr. strength; from its balsamic odour, strengthening the 

 animal spirits. Dr. Hookeh. t See Lamium album , folio 31, note f. 



t See folio 31 , note {. and also the 2nd page of the same folio. 



} See foiios 86, and 94, a. 



The Latin name of serpyllum, and the Greek erpullon, is derived from 

 erpn, Gr. to creep. Dr.*MAlirvN. 



