Flora Medica

LAMIACEJE, OR LABIATJE.leaden blue, or white, with the tube protruding a little beyond thecalyx. Has been employed as a cephalic medicine, relieving headachand exciting the mind to vigorous action. It is principally remarkablefor its undoubted power of encouraging the growth of hair and curingbaldness ; it is in fact what causes the green colour of the best Pomatumsused for that purpose; an infusion of it prevents the hair fromuncurling in damp weather ; it is moreover one of the plants employedin the manufacture of Hungary water, the French vinaigre aux quatrevoleurs, and Eau de Cologne. The admired flavour of Narbonne honeyis ascribed to the bees feeding on the flowers of this plant.101 1. Monarda fistulosa Linn, is decidedly bitter as well asaromatic, and has been employed in the United States as afebrifuge.1012. Monarda punctata Linn, abounds with camphor, andhas been employed as an antispasmodic, and to relieve the nauseawhich attends the bilious fevers of America.AMARACUS.Calyx ovate, campanulate, 13-nerved at the base, smoothinside ; upper limb long, entire, erect, lower truncate, minute.Corolla with the tube projecting beyond the calyx, as long asthe imbricated bracts the ;upper lip erect, emarginate, nearlyflat, the lower with 3 spreading, nearly equal entire lobes. Stamens4, projecting, didynamous, scarcely apart; anthers withdistinct diverging cells. Upper lobe of the style shorter thanthe other.1013. A. Dictamnus Benth. lab. 333. Origanum DictamnusLinn. sp. 823. Bot. t.Mag. 298. Rocks of Candia.(Dittany of Crete.)A procumbent woolly shrub, about 1 foot high, with ascendingbranches. Leaves sessile or short-stalked, subsessile, broad-ovate,obtuse, entire, rounded at the base, thick, soft, woolly on each side.Spikes on short stalks, about an inch long. Bracts loosely imbricated,sessile, roundish, entire, smooth, membranous, coloured at the apex, theexterior finely 5-nerved. Corolla not spurred. Aromatic and tonic,once in much repute among the Greeks and Romans, but not now used.ORIGANUM.Calyx ovate, tubular, 10-13-nerved, striated, with nearly 5equal teeth the throat ; shaggy inside. Corolla with the tubealmost the length of the calyx; the upper lip suberect, emarginate,the lower spreading, trifid, with nearly equal lobes. Stamens4, protruding, distinct, somewhat didynamous. Lobes of stylenearly equal.1014. O. vulgare Linn. sp. pi 824. Eng. Bot. t. 1143.Bentham labiat. 335. Europe, on chalky downs, and elsewhere,the Mediterranean, and central Asia. (Wild Marjoram.)490