MENTHA HIRSUTA. HAIRY MINT.
MENTHA hirsuta g floribus capitatis vertidllatisve, foliis petiolatis ovatis, calyce undiqile hirsute) „edicellis re
trorsum hispidis. Sm. J ■ ’ p e u3 re
MENTHA hirsuta. Smith Fl. Brit. p . 616. H an in Rees's Cycl. Hofm. Germ. cd. 3. m i l P II „ ä
Alt. Hort. K m . ed. 2. ml. 3. p. 388. Hook. Fl. Scot. P . l . p. 180. ’ '
C Capitulis breoibus sphcericis terminalibus. Sm. in Rees’s Cycl.
M. hirsuta. L in n .M a n t t.il. Smith in L im . Trans, ml. 5. p. 193. Huds. Angl. ed. 1. p. 333. Lightf.
, I M M 1 04‘ Bot. t. 447. Sole Menth, t. 10. 11. Decand Fl Fr ed 3 m l 3 n o / c
. Fl. Gall. Syn. p. 222. Willd. Sp. P l.m l. 3. p . 7 S. . p ‘ 5 ‘
M. aquatica. * « • A »52. ». & ß . Lightf. Scot. p . 305. Fers. Syk. PI. not. 2. p. , , 9 .
M. piperita. Linn. Sp. PI. p . 8Ö5.
ORIGANUM vulgare*. Fl. Dan. t. 638.
MENTHA aquatica sive Sisymbrium. Rail Syn. p . 233.
M. Sisymbrium dicta hirsuta, glomerulis ac foliis minqribus ac rotundioribus. Dill, in RaiiSyn.p. 233. t. 10. f. 1.
ß. Capitulo elongato terminall, vel spica obtusa. Sm. in Rees’s Cycl. J
M. hirsuta. S. & e. Smith Fl. Brit. p. 6 17. . •
M. palustris. Sole Menth, t. 6.
M. paludosa. Sole Menth, t. 22.
MENTHIASTRI aquatici genus birsutum, spi,ca lateris. Raii Syn, p. 234.
y. Floribus verticillatis. Sm. in Rees’s Cycl. .
M. hirsuta. £ —B. Sm. Fl. Brit. p. 617.
M. sativa. Lm n .S p .P L p . 805. (excl. syn.) Smith in Linn. Tram. ml. 5. p. 190., Engl. Bot. t. 448. Decand
Fl. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 3. p . 535. Fl. Gail. Syn. p. 222. . tjecana.
M. rivalis, ß . y . 5. Sole Menth, p . 45.
Class a nd Ord e r . D1DYNAMIA GYMNOSPERMIA.
[N atural Ord er. LABIATE, Just., Decand., Broom, Hook.]
Gnr. Char.. Corolla subasqualis, quadrifida; lacinia latiore emarginata. Calyx quinquefidus. Stamina erccta di.
stantia. Sm.
Gex. Chau. Corolla nearly regular, four-lobed; its broadest lobe notched. Calyx five-cleft. Stamens erect, dislant.
I Radix perennis, longissime repens, fibris intertextis donata,
stolonifera.
I Cables erecti, pedales et ultra, pubescentes, tctragmu, ar-
ticulati, soepe purpurei, versus apicem ramos?, ramis
oppositis, hirsuti, pilis deflexis.
I Folia opposita, ovata, acuta, brevi ter petiolata, profunde
serrata, venosa, undulata, subrugosa, subtus pnecipue
pubescentia, petiolis pilis deflexis.
■ Flores pallide purpurei, plèrumque capitati, capitulis globosis,
nunc verticillati, rarius oblongo-spicati, spicis
vel capitiilis bracteis duabus foliaceis suffultis.
I Calyx subcylindraceus, æqualiter quinquedentatus, decem-
striatus, pilosus, pilis patentibus. Pedicelli breves,
pilis deflexis obsiiti.
I Corolla subinfundibuliformis, extus pu.bescens, quadrifida;
lacimis tribus inferioribus ovatis, acutis, superiore la-
■ , höre, bifida.
■Stamina quatuor, subæqualia, exserta, purpurea.
JnSTlLLUM : Germen, quadrilobum, basi glandula annulari
cinctum. Stylus tubo corollas longior. Stigma bi-
■ ' fidum, ° r
§ ericarpium acheniis quatuor ovato-triquetris.
I MENovatum, pendulum. Podospermum longum, erectum,
oasi receptaculo affixum.
Root perennial, creeping to a considerable distance, stolo-
. niferous, beset with thickly interwoven fibres.
Stems' erect, a foot and more in height, downy, square
jointed, often reddish, branched towards the summit)
the branches opposite, green, hairy, the hairs deflexed! '
L eaves, opposite, ovate, acute, upon very short footstalks,
deeply serrated, veined, wavy, slightly rough, downy,
principally beneath, the hairs on the footstalks deflexed.
Flowers pale purplish, generally growing in heads, the
heads globose, sometimes whorled, very rarely in oblong
spikes, the spikes or heads supported by two
leafy bracteas.
Calyx subcylindrical, divided into five equal teeth, marked
with ten striæ, hairy, the hairs spreading. Pedicels
short, covered with deflexed hairs.
Corolla somewhat infundibuliform, externally downy, four-
- .d e ft, the three lower divisions ovate, acute; the upper
one broader,, bifid. ™
Stamens four, nearly equal, exserted, purple.
P ist il : Germen four-lobed, surrounded at the base with an
annular gland. Style longer than the lube o f the co-
■ .rolla. Stigma bifid.
P e r ica rp composed o f four ovato-triquetrous achenia.
Se ed ovate, pendent. Seedstalk long, erect, fixed by its
base ’to the receptacle.
«r te im a g ^ i/J : Seed've^ ^ *• Seed-vessel cut open to «how the seed,
» t t f t aS o d ^ X ’inZ ,^ ’^ d<S havf br “)most wholly guided by ■j.allb Itees's the learned President gL/°S?' S ? °f f J ‘ansac'°'?s. "> h.s Flora Britannica, English Botany, and above
1 ppecies of Mi« H SEB R hI B ‘ saccfssfully ln reducing to something like satisfactory characters/the different
■»dividual M MH HWH T ?nndd f?Z»»Lde,dT uPp'1on, s5o l yon "g0 athndA gp amtien tk nan° "i'nnv- estSigira tJiaomn eosf speScmimiethn’ss creu“lt’iav,aktse d“ Pin°“ d Hiffer evnatr isaobillse
... .......... rhe any thing equally valuable from my own observations; I shall make no hesitation of co-
!>»;„anil ihgeneral'remartablv ‘h ’ i! !W “ c°nstant Pknt in ‘he genus. 1' » often purplish; always more or less
[Ihe Ibotstnlts'leaves . h v'rS, ° f 110 stem’ branches and flower-stalks being all curved downward, those of
P'Wence never chM™stheC'a ? -.th0S0 cothe the calf x’ being nil turned forward or upward. This direction of the
P ° "Mi l* as smootli°as>h» a f ‘ !? qT " ‘y extre“>ely variable. We have a wild specimen, which, to the naked eye,
h that bore this beim. t~ „ / { '/"{ ? * ” **' ,b“* "'b!ch ls. m fact, minutely hairy, especially the calyx and slallrs. The
p « e have seen’ l i f e ™ nP r lnt0 s ne.'Sb.b?onnS garden, produced the following year a plant as hairy as any va-
»«MSn Spear H I H °f- C preSant md''»d“al likewise changeable. In general it is pungent and aromuic,
fe b like &kincense T h / r 68 ac<l“'res.llle fla' our °f p »PPcr Mint or of Camphor, and occasionally a very swee
P 4* n e n Z tZ J oZ y- T " g ‘1 sr imens 70 years old' and is now a"d then found/n the usually
[aaXc kut sometimes blunt 1 j“prlght’ b™ched, in the manner of M. odorata. Leaves stalked, ovate, rather
«, capitate like th ia n f aIfd’ £ery ™k™b e ln SIZ6’ tlleir veins strong »"d parallel. Flowers purplish; in the first
[■kflamate the stem or with one or two dense, distant, stalked, axillary whorls below; in f t so many whorls
r * > nndenieatli • this has tf* “ “ o“ "1 ab!““S sPlke’ sli11 »ocompanied by a distant whorl, or rather a pair of axillary
f e observed it to’ clmn been. “ ade a species by most authors, but it has all the essential characters of «/into which we
H i l l ;—his m l e W S m ‘ ud !t,ate' «cording to alterations in the moisture ot the soil; this is the M.palustris
C rled Mint, — m ,h“ the wborls sessile and more numerous, so as more nearly to resemble a properly
I s*. hairiness, colour and fl ‘ '“p ' ^ ln Mr' Sole' have completely Become in onr garden; in y , which like varies
C 1" these plants*in the “’florescence is entirely whorled throughout. It is not without repeated observa-
H , !" been decided in Khii.ln • / “ o' -““f-l0"® cultivation of them in two different gardens, one wet, the other dry, that
C ° " ' 'Vehave indeed si el," ® fo™s, of ’“florescence, in the M. hirsuta, as constituting no specific di-
E “M ’idl it difficult to a K 7 B B sh°w the change from « to y . This is a point, nevertheless, which theoretical
K ®»« hirsute is hv — “ d whlch M?™E.hnt great experience can establish.”
(p^ e s. increasing nrodipiniiB?0^ c?mIl?on °f nil our native species of Mint, abounding in wet meadows, fields, and by
If “A * Plant “sl? ^ f IoRS creeping roots, and flowering late in the aufumo. 7
iattt!y*>and flower-stalks^pm/t’ / i T 1JePPef ^ * ”1. differs in having its leaves nearly smooth, and the lower parts
Tlle p * f / ’er;'» is found truly S ^ o n ly bta'Bri"uinP 'Shed’ 1,0 “ the spikes being obtuse and interrupted. Smith says
r® "* C o w of theSrealdpeppe| Mini aUth°r informs % is eNt'acted from a variety of the hirsuta, which pos-
% have hflf sl.ran6e mistake in the Fin™ * .. ,
'«— Decn 8‘v.en to t.638- but in ^T ^ t0 the references t0 *■ 638 and t. 673. The latter is referred to as Mentha aqualica, which name should
I I ’ ’ C8Se’ the names are not changed, t. 673 being certainly not Origanum vulgare. It is rather, I suspect, intended for