M E N T H A rubra.
Tall Red Mint.
DIDYNAMIA Gymnospermia.
Gen. Char. Cal. 5-cleft. Cor. nearly regular, 4-cleft;
its broadest segment notched. Stamina erect, distant.
Spec. Char. Flowers whorled. Leaves ovate. Stem
upright, zigzag. Flower-stalks and lower part of
the calyx very smooth ; teeth hairy.
Syn. Mentha rubra. Sm. Tr. of L. Soc. v. 5. 205.
FI. Brit. 620.
M. sativa. Sole Menth. 47. t. 24.
M. verticillata. Ran Syn. 232.
M. sativa rubra. Ger. em. 680.
G a t h e r e d in September 1804 under a hedge in the road
fromWatton to Saham church, Norfolk, where I have observed
it for several years (see Tr. of Linn. Soc. and FI. Brit.). The
season being remarkably dry, the ditch was quite dried up,
and the plant more hairy than usual; but the essential character
of the smooth round polished flower-stalks and base of
the calyx remained unchanged, though the calyx-teeth were
hairy all over. On seeking about Saham mere, where several
varieties of M. hirsula (Fl. Brit. 8, 8) usually grow, I found
only the common capitate kind. M. piperita y had dwindled
away almost to nothing.
HI. rulra is the tallest and handsomest of our-native species,
rising to the height of 4 or even 6 feet, with a red wavy stem..
Leaves ovate, of a dark shining green; the upper ones small
and short. Whorls numerous, of many large reddish flowers.
Bractese linear, fringed. Calyx tubular, somewhat campanu-
late, dotted with resinous glands, its teeth always more or less
hairy. Thé whole plant has a strong aromatic scent, especially
in a dry soil. It is sometimes kept in gardens by the
name of Heart Mint, in allusion to its cordial qualities, and is
not very unfrequently found wild.
74-Z3