5C6 
BRITISH PLANTS. 
and yellow disk. Found in waste places ; not 
very common. It is the Chrysanthemun Par- 
thenium of some, and Matricaria Parthenium 
of Linnaeus. There is a variety in which the 
disk is occupied by large white tubular florets, 
Pijrethrum Parthenium. 
and in this state it is a handsome herbaceous 
plant. Feverfew is bitter and strong scented ; 
and is reckoned to be tonic, stimulating, and 
anti-hysteric (Smith). It was once esteemed 
a popular remedy in cases of ague . The odour 
is said to be exceedingly disagreeable to bees ; 
and that these insects may be easily kept at a 
distance by carrying a handful of the flower 
heads (Burnett). It is also recommended as a 
warm stimulating bitter. All that bitters and 
carminatives can do may be expected from this 
plant; but chamomile flowers, which have the 
same properties, are more powerful (Duncan). 
P. inoclorum, Smith. — Corn Feverfew, or 
Scentless Mayweed. Leaves sessile, pinnatifid 
in numerous capillary pointed segments; heads 
solitary; involucral scales lanceolate obtuse; 
fruit rugose, with two round glandular dots on 
'the external face, just below the elevated outer 
border. An annual, growing a foot and a half 
high, with an erect angular branching stem ; 
leaves with narrow elongated segments, fur- 
rowed beneath, and solitary large flower heads 
terminating the branches ; the ray large, white; 
disk yellow. It flowers from July to Septem- 
ber, and is found commonly by waysides, and 
in fields and waste places . It is called Matri- 
caria inodora, and Chrysanthemum inndorum. 
P. maritimum, Smith. — Sea Feverfew. 
Leaves sessile, lipinnate ; segments fleshy, 
linear, entire, blun ish, convex above, heeled 
beneath; heads solitary; involucral scales 
lanceolate obtuse ; fruit slightly rugose, with 
two elongated glandular spots on the external 
face, just below the lobed elevated border. A 
herbaceous perennial, with the stems usually 
procumbent, and branching ; and leaves with 
short crowded segments. The flower -heads 
resemble P. inodorum, and are produced in 
July and August. This plant is found on the 
sea coast in many places, especially in Scotland. 
The two latter of these plants are to be re- 
garded as weeds. P. Parthenium is a medi- 
cinal plant, and when cultivated as such, re- 
quires only the common treatment of hardy 
herbaceous plants. 
THE GENUS MENTHA. 
Character. — Calyx equal, five-toothed. 
Corolla nearly regular, four cleft, tube very 
short. Stamens four, distant; anther cells 
parallel ; filaments naked. There are several 
British species. 
* Throat of calyx naked. 
M. rotundifolia, Linnasus. — Round-leaved 
Mint. Stem erect ; leaves elliptic obtuse, ses- 
sile, crenate-serrated, shaggy beneath ; spikes 
linear-cylindrical, interrupted ; bracts lanceo- 
late. A herbaceous perennial, growing two or 
three feet high, with fibrous roots, spreading 
suckers, square hairy stems, opposite sessile 
rugose leaves, and the flowers in interrupted, 
whorled spikes ; the flowers are downy, pale 
pink, and borne in August and September. 
Found in waste moist places, not unfrequently 
in many parts of England, more rarely in Scot- 
land and Ireland. This is the Mentha syl- 
vestris of Sole. There are some varieties : — 
velutina has large cordate, elliptical, clasping, 
apiculated, silky leaves ; crispa (M. crispa, 
Linnaeus) has subsessile, deeply cut and crisped 
leaves, and the flowers very slightly downy 
externally. This plant, from its strong aro- 
matic odour, has been admitted to some gar- 
dens ; by cultivation, the leaves sometimes 
become slightly variegated. M. rotundifolia 
has been in some repute as a stomachic and 
emmenagogue. 
M. sylcestris, Linnaeus. — Horse Mint. Stem 
erect ; leaves ovate, or lanceolate-acute, ses- 
sile, unequally serrate, hoaiy beneath ; spikes 
linear-cylindrical, scarcely interrupted ; bracts 
subulate. A herbaceous perennial, growing 
two or three feet high, with fibrous roots, 
spreading suckers, obtusely angular, hoary, 
branched stems, with the pubescence turned 
downwards, opposite, usually sessile, acutely 
pointed leaves, variable in form, and terminal 
slender spikes of flowers, interrupted at the 
base: the calyx is woolly, and thecorolla downy, 
pale pink, produced in August and September. 
Itis found in marshy ground, in damp places, not 
unfrequently. The varieties include : — long!- 
