-- 1. _Flowers loose, without long-subulate bracts; calyx villous in the throat._

[*] _p.u.b.escent; peduncles short but mostly distinct; bracts minute._

C. NePETA, Link. (BASIL-THYME.) Soft-hairy; stem ascending (1--3 high); leaves petioled, broadly ovate, obtuse, crenate; corolla (3" long) twice the length of the calyx.--Dry waste grounds, Md. to Ark. (Nat.

from Eu.)

[*][*] _Glabrous or nearly so; common peduncles hardly any; pedicels 1--5, slender, the conspicuous bracts subulate-ac.u.minate; on wet limestone river-banks._

1. C. glabella, Benth. Smooth; _stems diffuse or spreading (1--2 long)_; leaves slightly petioled, _oblong or oblong-linear_, narrowed at base (8"--2' long), _sparingly toothed_ or nearly entire; cl.u.s.ters 3--5-flowered; corolla (purplish, 5--6" long) fully twice the length of the calyx.--S. Ind., Ky., and Tenn.

2. C. Nuttallii, Gray. Smaller; the flowering stems more upright (5--9'

high), _with narrower mostly entire leaves and fewer-flowered cl.u.s.ters, while sterile runners from the base bear ovate thickish leaves only 2--5" long_. (C. glabella, var. Nuttallii, _Gray_.)--Niagara Falls to Minn., south to Mo. and Tex.

-- 2. _Flowers in sessile dense many-flowered cl.u.s.ters, and involucrate with conspicuous setaceous-subulate rigid bracts; calyx nearly naked in the throat._

3. C. Clinopdium, Benth. (BASIL.) Hairy, erect (1--2 high); leaves ovate, petioled, nearly entire; flowers (pale purple) in globular cl.u.s.ters; hairy bracts as long as the calyx.--Borders of thickets and fields, naturalized extensively, but indigenous from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mts. (Eu., Asia)

16. MELiSSA, L. BALM.

Calyx with the upper lip flattened and 3-toothed, the lower 2-cleft.

Corolla with a recurved-ascending tube. Stamens 4, curved and conniving under the upper lip. Otherwise nearly as Calamintha.--Cl.u.s.ters few-flowered, loose, one-sided, with few and mostly ovate bracts resembling the leaves. (Name from ???ssa, _a bee_; the flowers yielding abundance of honey.)

M. OFFICINaLIS, L. (COMMON BALM.) Upright, branching, perennial, p.u.b.escent; leaves broadly ovate, crenate-toothed, lemon-scented; corolla nearly white.--Sparingly escaped from gardens. (Nat. from Eu.)

17. HEDEMA, Pers. MOCK PENNYROYAL.

Calyx ovoid or tubular, gibbous on the lower side near the base, 13-nerved, bearded in the throat, 2-lipped; upper lip 3-toothed, the lower 2-cleft. Corolla 2-lipped; upper lip erect, flat, notched at the apex, the lower spreading, 3-cleft. Fertile stamens 2; the upper pair reduced to sterile filaments or wanting.--Low, odorous annuals, with small leaves, and loose axillary cl.u.s.ters of flowers (in summer), often forming terminal leafy racemes. (Altered from ?d??s??, an ancient name of Mint, from its sweet scent.)

[*] _Sterile filaments manifest; leaves oblong-ovate, petioled, somewhat serrate._

1. H. pulegiodes, Pers. (AMERICAN PENNYROYAL.) Erect, branching, hairy; whorls few-flowered; upper calyx-teeth triangular, the lower setaceous-subulate; corolla (bluish, p.u.b.escent) scarcely exserted (2--3" long); taste and odor nearly of the true _Pennyroyal_ (Mentha Pulegium) of Europe.--Common from N. Eng. to Dak., and southward.

[*][*] _Sterile filaments minute or obsolete; leaves narrow, entire, sessile or nearly so._

2. H. hispida, Pursh. Mostly low; _leaves linear, crowded, almost glabrous_, somewhat hispid-ciliate; _bracts spreading or reflexed_; upper flowers rather crowded; _calyx-teeth all subulate_, equalling the bluish corolla.--Plains, Minn. and Dak. to W. Ill. and La.

3. H. Drummondi, Benth. _p.u.b.escent or p.u.b.erulent_, a span or two high; _leaves oblong to linear; bracts mostly erect_; calyx hirsute or hispid, its teeth at length connivent, _the lower nearly twice as long as the upper_.--Central Neb. and Kan. to Tex., and westward.

18. SaLVIA, L. SAGE.

Calyx 2-lipped; upper lip 3-toothed or entire, the lower 2-cleft.

Corolla deeply 2-lipped, ringent; upper lip straight or scythe-shaped, entire or barely notched, the lower spreading or pendent, 3-lobed, its middle lobe larger. Stamens 2, on short filaments, jointed with the elongated transverse connective, one end of which, ascending under the upper lip, bears a linear 1-celled (half-) anther, the other, usually descending, bears an imperfect or deformed (half-) anther or none at all.--Flowers mostly large and showy, in spiked, racemed, or panicled whorls, produced in summer. (Name from _salvo_, to save, in allusion to the reputed healing qualities of Sage.)

[*] _Both anther-cells polliniferous; leaves mostly lyrately lobed or pinnatifid._

1. S. lyrata, L. (LYRE-LEAVED SAGE.) Low perennial (10--20' high), somewhat hairy; stem nearly simple and naked; root-leaves lyre-shaped or sinuate-pinnatifid, sometimes almost entire; those of the stem mostly a single pair, smaller and narrower; the floral oblong-linear, not longer than the calyx; whorls loose and distant, forming an interrupted raceme; upper lip of the blue-purple p.u.b.escent corolla (nearly 1' long) short, straight, not vaulted.--Woodlands and meadows, N. J. to Ill., south to Fla. and Tex.

[*][*] _Lower anther-cell wanting; the sterile ends of the connectives mostly united._

[+] _Calyx obscurely bil.a.b.i.ate; corolla 8--12" long, with prominently exserted tube._

2. S. azurea, Lam., var. grandiflra, Benth. Cinereous-p.u.b.erulent, 1--5 high; lower leaves lanceolate or oblong, obtuse, denticulate or serrate, tapering to a short petiole; upper narrower, often linear, entire; inflorescence spike-like, tomentulose-sericeous; calyx-teeth short, the broad upper lip entire; corolla deep blue (varying to white).--E. Neb.

to Miss., Tex., and Col.

[+][+] _Calyx deeply bil.a.b.i.ate; corolla 4--6" long, the tube hardly at all exserted._

3. S. lanceolata, Willd. _p.u.b.erulent_ or nearly glabrous, 5--12' high; _leaves lanceolate or linear-oblong_, irregularly serrate or nearly entire, _tapering to a slender petiole_; inflorescence virgate spiciform, interrupted; _upper lip of calyx entire_, lower 2-cleft; corolla blue, 4" long, _little exserted; style glabrous or nearly so_.--Plains, Iowa and Neb. to Tex. and Ariz.

4. S. urticiflia, L. _Villous-p.u.b.escent and somewhat viscid_, or glabrate, 1--2 high; _leaves_ coa.r.s.ely serrate, _ovate, with truncate or cuneate base decurrent into a winged petiole_; inflorescence racemose-spicate, of numerous distant cl.u.s.ters; calyx-lips divergent, _the upper 3-toothed_, lower 2-cleft; corolla blue and white, 5--6" long, _twice the length of the calyx; style strongly bearded_.--Woodlands, Md. to Ky., south to Ga. and La.

S. SCLaREA, L. (CLARY.) Villous-p.u.b.escent, viscid, stout, 2--3 high; leaves ample, long-petioled, ovate and cordate, crenate, rugose; the floral forming bracts of the spike, tinged with white and rose-color; corolla white and bluish, rather large, the long upper lip falcate and compressed.--Escaped from gardens, Penn. (Nat. from Eu.)

S. VERBENaCEA, L. p.u.b.escent or villous, 1--2 high; leaves ovate or oblong, often cordate at base, mostly sinuate-incised or moderately pinnatifid, the lobes crenate-toothed, rugose; the few cauline mostly sessile, the floral inconspicuous; raceme interrupted; calyx reflexed after flowering; corolla bluish, small, the upper lip nearly straight.--Sparingly seen in the Middle States. (Nat. from Eu.)

19. MONaRDA, L. HORSE-MINT.

Calyx tubular, elongated, 15-nerved, nearly equally 5-toothed, usually hairy in the throat. Corolla elongated, with a slightly expanded throat, and a strongly 2-lipped limb; lips linear or oblong, somewhat equal, the upper erect, entire or slightly notched, the lower spreading, 3-lobed at the apex, its lateral lobes ovate and obtuse, the middle one narrower and slightly notched. Stamens 2, elongated, ascending, inserted in the throat of the corolla; anthers linear (the divaricate cells confluent at the junction).--Odorous erect herbs, with entire or toothed leaves, and pretty large flowers in a few whorled heads, closely surrounded with bracts. (Dedicated to _Nicolas Monardes_, author of many tracts upon medicinal and other useful plants, especially those of the New World, in the latter half of the 16th century.)

[*] _Stamens and style exserted beyond the linear straight acute upper lip of the corolla; heads solitary and terminal or sometimes 2 or 3; leaves acutely more or less serrate; perennials._

[+] _Leaves petioled; calyx-teeth scarcely longer than the width of the tube._

1. M. didyma, L. (OSWEGO TEA. BEE-BALM.) Somewhat hairy (2 high), acutely 4-angled; leaves ovate-lanceolate, ac.u.minate, _the floral ones and the large outer bracts tinged with red; calyx smooth, incurved, nearly naked in the throat; corolla smooth (2' long), bright red_, showy.--Moist woods by streams, N. Eng. to Mich., south to Ga. in the mountains. July--Aug.

2. M. clinopdia, L. Nearly glabrous to villous-p.u.b.escent; leaves ovate-lanceolate and ovate; _bracts whitish; calyx moderately hirsute in the throat; corolla slightly p.u.b.escent (1' long), dull white or flesh-colored_.--Shady places, ravines, etc., Ont. to Ill., and along the mountains to Ga.

3. M. fistulsa, L. (WILD BERGAMOT.) Smoothish or downy, 2--5 high; _leaves_ ovate-lanceolate, the uppermost and outer bracts somewhat colored (whitish or purplish); _calyx_ slightly curved, _very hairy in the throat; corolla_ (1' long or more) _purple or purplish dotted_, smooth or hairy.--Dry soil, Vt. and E. Ma.s.s, to Fla., and far westward.

Very variable; the following are the more marked forms.--Var. RuBRA, Gray. Corolla bright crimson or rose-red; habit of n. 1, but upper lip of corolla villous-bearded on the back at tip; throat of calyx with the outer bristly hairs widely spreading. In moist ground, Alleghany Mts.--Var. MeDIA, Gray. Corolla deep purple. Alleghany Mts.--Var.

MoLLIS, Benth. Corolla flesh-color to lilac, glandular, its upper lip hairy outside or more bearded at the tip; leaves paler, soft-p.u.b.escent beneath; throat of calyx mostly filled with dense beard, with sometimes an outer row of bristles. Extends to Minn. and westward.

[+][+] _Leaves nearly sessile; calyx-teeth elongated, lax; head solitary._

4. M. Bradburiana, Beck. Leaves clothed with long soft hairs, especially underneath; the floral and the outer bracts somewhat heart-shaped, purplish; calyx smoothish, contracted above, very hairy in the throat, with awl-shaped awned teeth; corolla smoothish, bearded at the tip of the upper lip, scarcely twice the length of the calyx, pale-purplish, the lower lip dotted with purple.--Thickets, Ind. to Tenn. and Kan.

[*][*] _Stamens not exceeding the falcate upper lip of the short corolla; heads axillary or interrupted spicate; leaves lanceolate or oblong, spa.r.s.ely serrate, tapering into the petiole._

5. M. punctata, L. (HORSE-MINT.) _Perennial_, minutely downy (2--3 high); leaves petioled, lanceolate, narrowed at base; _bracts_ lanceolate, blunt, obtuse at base, sessile, yellowish and purple; teeth of the downy calyx _short and awnless_, rigid, soon spreading; corolla nearly smooth, _yellowish_, the upper lip _spotted with purple_, notched at the apex, the tube scarcely exceeding the calyx.--Sandy ground, N. Y.

to Minn., south to Fla. and Tex.

6. M. citriodra, Cerv. _Annual_, 1--3 high; bracts narrowly oblong, _their slender awned tips spreading or recurving; calyx-teeth slender_, at length usually spreading; corolla _white or pinkish, not spotted_.--Neb. to Tex.

20. BLEPHiLIA, Raf.