M E N T H A fylveftris.
Horfe Mint,
DIDYNAMIA Gymnofpermia.
G en. Char. Cal. five-cleft. Cor. nearly regular,
four-cleft; its broadeft fegment notched. Stamina
eredt, diftant.
Spec. Char. Spikes fhaggy, fcarcely interrupted.
Leaves acute, with deep-toothed ferratures, chiefly
downy beneath. Bradtem awl-fhaped.
S y n . Mentha fylveftris. Linn. Sp. PI. 804. Sm. FI.
Brit. 609. Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. 5. 179. Huff.
250. With. 521. Hull. 125. Relh. 222.
M. villofa prima. Sole Menth. 3. t. 1.
Menthaftrum fpicatum, folio longiore candicante.
Rail Syn. 234.
N OT unfrequent in wafle ground and watery places, flow,
ering in Auguft. The Rev. Mr. Relhan fent it from Cam-
bridgethire.
The root is perennial and creeping, as in the whole genus.
Stems 2 to 4 feet high, ereCt, fquare, fhaggy with hairs pointing
downwards. Leaves feflile, or nearly To, of an oblong, lanceolate,
fomewhat ovate form, fharply and deeply ferrated,
hoary above, fhaggy with foft white hairs beneath. Spikes terminal,
panicled, fharpifh, compofed of numerous denfe whorls,
with very little fpace between even the lowermoft; each whorl
accompanied by a pair of tapering projecting awl-fhaped brac-
teae, the loweftof which are dilated at the bafe. The whole in-
florefcence is fhaggy and hoary. Hairs on the flower-ftalks
bent clofely downwards. Calyx fmall, hairy all over, with tapering
teeth. Corolla twice as long as the calyx, hairy, of a
pale lilac colour. Stamina generally fhorter than the corolla.
The whole herb has a peculiar ftrong mint-like fmell.
M. v i l l o f a f e c u n d a of Mr. Sole differs only in having more
ovate leaves, and theM. r o t u n d i f o l i a of the fame obferving author
appears to us not to be fpecifically diftinct. Its leaves are
very broad and elliptical. For the true M. r o t u n d i f o l i a of Linnaeus
fee our t. 4 46. Doody found in Kent a very downy
fweet-fcented variety off y l v e f t r i s j mentioned in R a i i S y n . e d . % .
34i