BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
269 
1. —THE HEDGE NETTLE, OR HEDGE WOUND-WORT. (Stachys sylvatica, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 416 ; 2nd ed., t. 838; and our fig. 3, in PI. 51. 
Specific Character. —Six flowers in a whorl. Leaves heart-shaped, stalked. Stem solid. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This plant is very common on hedge banks, or in plantations where the ground is moist. 
It grows with most luxuriance and assumes the richest colours in the shade. Its flowers are very handsome, 
but the smell is disagreeable. It is a perennial, and flowers in July and August. 
THE ANNUAL WOUND-WORT. (Stachys annua, Lin.) 
This is a very doubtful native. It is an annual, and it produces its pale-yellow fragrant flowers in August. 
THE MARSH OR CLOWN’S WOUND-WORT. (Stachys talustris, Lin.) 
A handsome plant with rather large pinkish flowers, which appear in August. It is a perennial. This 
plant was formerly much esteemed as a vulnerary. Gerard says that it cured a wound in a week, that would 
not have healed in less than forty days with any other treatment. 
DOWNY WOUND-WORT. (S. Germantca, Lin.) 
This plant differs from all the other species, in being covered with a dense woolly covering that renders the 
stem and leaves quite soft to the touch. It is generally found growing in chalky soils. It is a perennial, and 
produces its pretty pink flowers in August and September. 
CORN WOUND-WORT. (S. arvensis, Lin.) 
A common annual weed in corn-fields, with small purple flowers which appear in July. 
THE BETONY. (S. Betonica, Benth. — Syn. Betonica officinalis, Lin.) 
The "Wood Betony was formerly held in high esteem for its medical properties, and there were several old 
proverbs relating to it, that prove the high value that was set upon it. One of these proverbs “ Sell your coat 
and buy betony,” is still sometimes repeated in the Midland counties ; and the leaves are still occasionally used 
as tea. The flowers are rose-coloured, and they appear in July and August. The plant is a perennial, and it 
is common in woods and shady places in every part of England. 
GENUS XY. 
THE BLACK HOREHOUND. (Ballota, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. BIDYNAMIA GYMNOSPERMIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx funnel-shaped, dilated at the top, five-cornered, with ten streaks, and five teeth. Corolla two-lipped ; the 
upper concave, crenate ; the lower three-lobed ; the middle lobe larger and emarginate. Nuts triangular. ( IAndley.) 
Description, &c. —There is only one British species in this genus, the common Black Horehound, ( B. nigra , 
Linn.). It is a perennial plant of no beauty, producing its reddish-purple or wdiite flowers, in July and August, 
and having a very unpleasant smell, which is most powerful in hot weather. It is generally found in waste 
ground near a town. The name of Ballota signifies to reject. 
