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
much branched, spreading. Flower-stalks and base
of the calyx smooth.
Syn. Mentha gentilis. Linn. Sp. PL 805. Sm. Tr. of
L. Soc. v. 5 . 2 0 3 . FI. Brit. 6 2 1 . Hull. ed. 2. 173.
M. rubra. Sole Menth. 41. t. 18.
(3. M. rivalis «. ih. 45. t. 20.
y. M. variegata. ib. 4 3 . t. 19.
M. arvensis verticillata versicolor. Moris, sect. 11. t. 7.
/ • 5 . _ _ _ _ _
N A T IV E of watery places, but rare, flowering in August
and September. Our specimen was gathered at Edgefield near
Holt, by Mr. Borrer and Mr. Hooker. The Rev. Mr. Williams
has sent the same from Shropshire.
The stem is usually 12 or 18 inches high, erect, very
bushy in consequence of the numerous opposite spreading
branches, and quite different from the very tall, slender, zigzag
habit of M. rubra, t. 1413, to which its specific character
approaches in other points. The whole plant however
is paler than in that, and rougher; leaves more uniform, and
less rounded; whorls nearly sessile, except occasionally in the
varieties; calyx rough with upright hairs on the upper half;
sometimes the bottom and stalk, though usually smooth and
polished, bear each a few scattered hairs, those on the latter
being, in such case, deflexed. Stamens hardly longer than
the corolla.
The variety y , striped with yellow, is often cultivated by
poor people in windows or cottage gardens for its beauty and
scent. This species especially is improved in fragrance by
growing in a dry soil.