valley exclusively, on a loose stony soil over chalk, flowering
from August to October, or even later.
The following are the main points of difference between
our new British species and the common Calamint (C. officinalis
Roootf, Hoor oraktehre arn rdh ioztohmeras,) .slender, brownish and woody, copiously
branched and comosely fibrous, emitting chiefly from
the top one or more long, jointed, and finally woody suckers
that creep horizontally just beneath the surface, and again
ramifying, give off at various angles new barren and flowering
stems and rooting fibres in the manner of the Wild Basil (Cli-
nopodium vulgare, Linn., Melissa Clinopodium, Benth.), to
which the present species approximates closely in habit and
structure. The root of the common Calamint is, in old
plants at least, very stout and ligneous| and although emitting
suckers (surculi) from the crown, is, we believe, constantly
destitute of underground runners or stolons. Stems (which
are erect or ascending at the base) taller, less rigid, more lax
or diffuse, much less bushy from the far fewer or more distant
and longer branches, which are mostly simple, slender, erect
and wand-like. Leaves greatly superior in size, the lower
and larger two inches or upwards in length without the petiole,
more truly ovate, slightly attenuated rather than rounded
at base, more closely and acutely, evenly, and often very deeply
and sharply serrated, usually pointed, but, the lower ones especially,
often somewhat obtuse, a few of the very lowest occasionally
assuming the ovate-rotundate, subrhomboidal or subdeltoid
form and very shallow remote serratures that distinguish
those of our common Calamint. In colour they are
light green and paler beneath, with but little, if any, of the
grey, hoary aspect of the other, and when rubbed their scent
is more pungent and agreeable, being pretty exactly that of
peppermint both in this and the nearly allied C. grandiflora
{Mel. grandiflora, Linn.), a species at once distinguishable
from the present by the fewer-flowered cymes, more coarsely
and unequally serrated leaves, still larger and longer corolla,
and especially by the much greater size of the calyx and of
the jet-black seeds*. Verticillasters many-flowered, geminate
and axillary, forming together on the stems long, lax,
secund, leafy racemes as in C. officinalis, but on longer stalks,
the lowermost especially often an inch or more in length, and
which are usually curved upwards or ascending. Calyx much
as in the other, and scarcely enlarged in proportion with the
corolla; a little broader perhaps, or more campanulate,^ and
deeply coloured; the upper teeth rather longer, and either
quite erect or distinctly recurved, not, as in the other, simply
prm* stTaon titohri so lfa stht,e a onldd nworti tteor sC, .L soyblevla, titchae, btweloo nBgasu thhien sC, aGlaemrairndthe,a & mco.,n wtaintha
the illustrative woodcuts of the species.
porrected or ascending. Corolla pale purplish-rose or peach-
blossom red, variable in size and in depth of colouring, but
always much larger, broader, and differently marked; in structure
almost exactly like that of Clinopodium vulgare*; in the
flowers of the inferior verticillasters about three-quarters of an
inch long and about thrice the length of the calyx; of the superior
hardly above twice the length of the latter, smaller, more
highly coloured, and abortive ; upper lip nearly as in the commoner
species, but rounder; lower lip trifid, the lobes much
broader and rounder than in that, slightly waved and crenulate,
themiddleone but little exceeding the two lateral in length, very
broad and shallow, its posterior and lateral margins rounded,
and overlapping or overlapped by the exterior lobes, and so
concealing the sinus between them. In C. officinalis the segments
of the lower lip are very distinct and widely separated
from each other, the middle lobe considerably longer than the
two lateral, and wedge-shaped, or attenuated backwards to its
origin. Palate with two bristly prominences, and, together
with the throat and disc of the central lobe, beautifully variegated
with white sprinkled with deep rose-colour or rich
crimson. In C. officinalis the same parts are simply marked
with a few spots or blotches of purplish-red. Nuts (caryopsi-
des) ovato-globose as in that, but somewhat larger and darker-
dcoeelopulyre pd,u nacntda,t e,i no rm sym osoptehciismh.ens at least, less thickly and
It would perhaps be impossible to extricate the synonyms
of our three British Calamints from the confusion existing
amongst authors respecting them, each having, as we conceive
from collating their descriptions, been considered as the Melissa
Calamintha of Linnaeus at various times. The inspection
of several foreign herbariums has convinced us that this
is the case with M. Calamintha and M. Nepeta as understood
by British botanists; and that our present plant has shared
both this appellation and that of C. officinalis is demonstrated
by the reference which we have made, on his own authority,
to our friend Mr. Bentham’s elaborate work on the Labiates,
the published specimens of Reichenbach, which are indubitably
of this species, and the impression from the plant itself
in the rare and little-known Ectypa Plantarum Ratisbonensium
of Hoppe. The ground on which we contend for the isolation
of the present plant, and the consequent necessity of imposing
a new specific name, apart from the striking differences
in habit, size and scent from our remaining species, is
the structural affinity it betrays to Clinopodium vulgare (Melissa
Clin., Benth.), to which it is as closely allied in its root,
str*u cMturre. , Bwehnetnh aimn d{eLsacrbi.b ipn.g 3t9h3e) lahtatesr hhiem ssaeylsf , n“o Cticoerdol lath Mis .s iCmaillaamriitnyt hiine csapleycciees .duplo longior,” a remark applicable only on comparison with our new