q M E N T H A rotundifolia.
Round-leaved Mint.
D ID Y N A M IA Gymnofpermia.
G en. C h a r . Cor. nearly regular, four-cleft; its broad-
eft fegment notched. Stamina eredt, diftant.
Spe c . C h ar. Spikes oblong. Leaves feffile, round-
ith, rugged, fhaggy, fharply crenate. Bradteaa
lanceolate. Stamina longer than the corolla.
Syn. Mentha rotundifolia. Linn. Sy>. PI. 805. Hudf.
251. With. 522.
Menthaftrum folio rugofo rotundiore fpontaneum,
flore fpicato, odore gravi. Rail Syn. 234.
W i T H cautious fteps we enter upon the Engliffi mints ;
which have hitherto been very imperfectly underftood, and we
fhall therefore be more fparing than ufual in our quotations of
Britilh authors. We have long been in expectation that the
fubject would have been taken up profefledly by fome able practical
obferver. The world ftill looks to the ingenious Mr.
Sole of Bath, and it is hoped his obfervations on this difficult
genus will not be long withheld. A complete fet of fpecimens,
named by himfelf, and compared by us with the Linnsean herbarium,
have been of great ufe; as well as others collected by the
pupils of Ray and Dillenius, communicated by Sir Jofeph
Banks. We fhall therefore, by thefe authorities, and our own
practical and repeated inveltigations, try to eltablilh each
fpecies ftep by ftep, as every one that is fo eftablifhed leflens
the difficulty with the remainder.
The Mentha now before us is very near, if not the fame, to
what Linnseus intended for crifpa in the firft edition of Species
Flantarum, but is not that of the fecond edition and all other
authors, which has never yet been found in Britain. Ours is
alfo M. Spicata y of that firft edition.
With us it is rather rare ; growing in wade ground, generally
where there is moifture; and flowering in Auguft and September.
This fpecimen was gathered by the Rev. Mr. Forby,
on the edge of an old moat at Shingham, Norfolk. We have
the fame collected in Eflex, by J. Walford, Efq. In gardens
it is often found variegated.
The root is perennial and creeping, as ufual in this genus.
Stems 2 or 3 feet high, ereCt, fquare, hairy or fhaggy, the hairs
pointing more or lefs downwards. Leaves roundifh, fomewhat
heart-fhaped, rugged, ftrongly and fharply crenate, or rather
ferrated, the teeth and points of the fmall upper ones being
often very taper. The under fide is fhaggy, not hoary, and all
the veins are fringed as it were with clofe hairs. Spikes feve-
ral, terminal, ereCt, fharpiffi, not very denfely whorled ; the
braCteae lanceolate, hairy, fharp, and projecting. Flowers
reddifh. Calyx-teeth broad at the bafe. Stamina always much
longer than the corolla; which circumftance, though occafion
ally variable, as the Rev. Mr. Bryant and Mr. Pitchford long
ago obferved, is not totally to be overlooked in mints. In general,
indeed, when the plant increafes much by root, the fta-
mina are fhort and abortive, as in the orange lily.