SALVIA pratenfis.
Meadow Clary.
D I A N D R I A Monogynia.
G en. C h ar. Cor. irregular. Filaments attached late-
ra lly to a little fo o tfta lk .
S pec. C h ar . L e a v e s o b lo n g , hear t-fh ap ed at the ba fe ,
c r e n a te d ; the u p p e rm o ft em b ra c in g the Item.
Bradteas min ute. S um m it o f the co ro lla g lu t i nous.
S y n . S a lv ia pratenfis. Linn. Sp. PI. 3 5 . Hudf. FI.
An. l o . TVitb. Bot. Arr. 2 1 .
S c la re a pratenfis foliis ferratis. Raii Syn. 2 3 7 .
T h e meadow clary is one of our more fpecious, as well as
of our moil fcarce plants of Britifh growth. Mr. Jacob Rayer
gathered this fpecimen near Cobham in Kent, the feat of Lord
Darnley. Dr. Stokes mentions it as common in Surry and Suffix
; we have had it too from Oxfordlhire. It flowers in June»
and cannot eafily be overlooked.
Root perennial. Leaves oblong, nearly fmooth, irregularly
crenated, wrinkled and veiny; the radical, and lower Hem-
leaves, on longifh footftalks, and fometimes finuated; the uppermoft
feflile, embracing the ftem, fharply pointed. Long
whorled fpikes of large blue flowers iS of them in a whorl)
terminate the ftem and branches, with a pair of very fmall
heart-fhaped, acuminated bradteae to each whorl, whence Linnaeus
defines it verticillis fubnudis, the bradtese being fo much
lefs confpicuous than in moft other fpecies. The flower-ftalks
and calyx, as well us the apex of the corolla, are hairy and vif-
cid. This is not a very aromatic fpecies.