324 lxiii. labiate. [ Mentha . 
brous serrate sessile, spikes cylindrical interrupted, bracteas 
subulate, calyx-teeth linear-setaceous. E. B. t. 2424. 
Marshy places, in many parts of England, according to Smith. Cairn - 
hill, near Edinburgh. A var. with crisped leaves has occurred in 
Glen Farg, Perthsh., along with the usual form and M. piperita. 1i. 
8. — Mr. Bentham remarks that the bracteas and the calyx are either 
glabrous or hairy : the pedicels seem to be always glabrous. Cul- 
tivated for culinary purposes, being aromatic and pungent. 
•ft Leaves stalked. 
4. M. piperita Sm. ( Pepper M .) ; leaves ovate-oblong strongly 
serrate acute slightly hairy stalked, upper oues smaller, spikes 
lax interrupted below, bracteas lanceolate, calyx tubular with 
lanceolate subulate teeth quite glabrous at the base. — a. offici- 
nalis (Sole), leaves ovato-lanceolate or oblong, spikes short ob- 
tuse. E. B. t. 687. — 1 8 . syloestris (Sole), leaves ovate rounded 
and almost cordate at the base, spikes elongated. 
Watery places, in many parts of England, but often escaped from 
gardens. Alford, Aberdeenshire; North Queensferry. If.. 8,9. — 
Much cultivated for the sake of its essential oil, which resides in 
minute glands conspicuous on the leaves and especially on the cal. 
Mr. W. Wilson finds a var. near Warrington, in which these glands 
are not visible even with a microscope : “ its odour is sweet and mild, 
without the pungency of the common sort cultivated in gardens.” 
5. M. aquatica L. (Water capitate M.) ; leaves ovate serrate 
stalked rounded or slightly cordate at the base, uppermost ones 
bracteiform and shorter than the flowers, flowers dense in ter- 
minal obtuse heads or spikes and sometimes also in remote 
axillary whorls, calyx tubular, its teeth triangular-subulate. — 
a. leaves pubescent or villous, calyx and pedicels hairy. M. 
hirsuta L. : E. B. t. 447. — j3. leaves incise-toothed and crisped. 
M. crispa E. B. S. t. 2785 ? — y. leaves, calyx, and pedicels quite 
glabrous. M. citrata Ehrh. M. odorata Sole : E. B. t. 1025. 1 
Banks of rivers and marshes, frequent. — 13.1 Northumberland 
and near Audley-End, Essex. — y. Cheshire ; near Bedford ; N. 
Wales. 2). 8, 9. — Of the var. y. we have only seen garden speci- 
mens ; it is quite glabrous and has the smell of the Bergamot-orange or 
the herbage of Monarda didyma, whence it is called the Bergamot-mint. 
We refer M. crispa E. B. S. here, on the authority of Mr. Bentham ; 
but the flowers are not sufficiently capitate, although the spike be 
shorter than in 31. piperita; as, however, all the crisped-leaved forms 
of Mint are monstrosities, the species from which they are derived can 
scarcely be determined by the usual characters. 
1 Nearly all the species of this genus are hairy with serrate leaves, but are subject 
to two principal variations, viz, : — to be almost entirely glabrous, in which case 
the pedicels and lower part of the calyx become quite glabrous, and the odour of 
the species is milder and even pleasant ; — and to have the leaves cut and crisped. 
This latter is more strictly a monstrosity, and is sometimes accompanied with a 
considerable change in the inflorescence. 
