Part 60

Found in dooryards and roadsides, amidst grass, in May.

The trailing stalk is leafy, square, and somewhat hairy; pale green in color.

The leaf is nearly round, with a heart-shaped base, the margin cut in large rounded scallops, and the surface soft hairy to the touch; the color is green, often sprinkled with lighter, mouldy-looking patches. The leaves, on curved stems, grow in pairs.

The flower is 2-lipped; the upper lip slightly parted, the lower being more broad and spreading, and 3-cleft,--the middle lobe notched. The color varies from light to darker blue-violet, the lower lip and throat being spotted with small specks of reddish-violet. The tubular calyx is 5-parted, and green. The flowers, on short stems, spring from the angles of the leaves.

Introduced from England into our gardens, the one desire of this “natural born” rover seems to be that of escaping from bounds,--to run away riot on the green sward, under the hedge, and so out on the highway.

*Catnip.* Nepeta Cataria.

Found from July to September, on the roadsides, and about dwellings.

The large square stalk is branching, and rather leafy; it grows between 2 or 3 feet high, and is strong-fibred, downy, and grooved down the middle of each side; its color is light gray-green.

The broad oval leaf is heart-shaped at the base, the edge is cut into large rounded scallops, and the surface is downy. In color it is a grayish-green. The leaves, on very short stems, grow in pairs.

The small flower is 2-lipped; the upper lip is erect, and notched in the middle of the margin, the larger lower lip is 3-lobed, the middle lobe being much the largest. Its color is a lavender tinted white, spotted with lavender dots. The small, tubular, 5-pointed calyx is green. The flowers grow upon the stalk in short spike-like clusters.

The Catnip has a pungent, mint-like odor. It is somewhat sprangling in growth, and only a few flowers open together; but the heart shaped leaf is most pleasing to the touch, because of its fine silky texture.

*Bee Balm.* Monarda didyma. *Oswego Tea.*

Found in July (but occasionally later in the season also), in the shade of moist woods, frequently near water.

The stalk grows from 1 to 2 feet high, and is noticeably square; it is juicy, hairy and rough to the touch. In color, light green, with a red ring at the joints.

The leaf is oval, broad at the base, and tapering to a long, sharp point, many ribbed, with its margin coarsely notched, and rough with hairs; green in color. The leaves, on short, hairy, red stems, grow in pairs, which are at alternate angles with each other.

The conspicuous flower is tubular, very small at the base, spreading wide in the throat, and 2-lipped; the upper lip is very narrow, sharp-pointed, and curving, the lower lip is larger, spreading, and often 2-cleft; the texture is fine and delicate. The pistil and 2 long, slender stamens protrude from under the tip of the upper lip, and, like the corolla, are colored a full, glowing red. The small calyx, with its round, narrow-throated, and 5-pointed tube, is of a papery texture, and finely grooved; in color it is a duller and darker red than the corolla. The flowers are set in a large terminal head, that is surrounded by a row of drooping, oval, smooth, red leaf-like bracts.

These bracts, while bright in color, do not possess the rich fullness of hue which belongs to the flowers themselves; just beneath them a pair of stalk-leaves crowd up close, and are each adorned with a dash of scarlet, as though the dye had spilled over from the blossoms. The buds open in the center of the head first, and continue blooming in rings, outward. Not even the Cardinal Flower produces a more vivid effect than a group of these brilliant flowers, standing beside a pool of dark water, in the heavy shade of forest trees.

*Wild Bergamot.* Monarda fistulosa.

Found in the dry soil of roadsides and pastures during July and August.

The smooth square stalk is slightly grooved, and somewhat slender, though strong in fibre; it grows from 2 to 5 feet in height, and branches only for the flowers. Color, green tinged with dull violet.

The leaf is oval, broad at the base, and tapering to the point; its margin is sparingly notched, the texture is exceedingly fine, and the surface is soft to the touch. It is aromatic in odor. The color is grayish-green, the midrib being lighter.

The flower is 2-lipped, with a long slender tube, and the pistil and 2 stamens project beyond the upper lip; they are colored like the corolla, a clear fine lavender. The small, tubular calyx is minutely 5-pointed; of a green color that is tinted with dull violet. The flowers grow in large terminal heads, which are set about by a row of small, light green leaves (bracts).

The flowering begins at the center of the head, and continues in ever-widening whorls, leaving behind them a slightly rounded disc of small tubular calices, resembling a honeycomb,--the intermingled green and lavender in this disc form a pleasing note in the color-scheme of the plant, whose leafage is unusually fine in texture, as well as tone.

*Hyssop.* Hyssopus officinalis.

Found along roadside banks, near human habitations, during July and August.

The stalk is 8 or 12 inches high with many leaves and trig little branches; it is square, tough-fibred, slender, and smooth. The color is light green, inclining to a blue-green,--reddish near the foot.

The long and narrow leaf has a blunt-pointed tip, an entire margin, and shows only its midrib; the texture is thick and a little stiff, and the surface is very slightly rough. In color it is a fine gray-green, with a hint of the rich color of the flower. The leaves grow upon the stem in clustered pairs, which occur at right angles to each other.

The small tubular flower is 2-lipped; the narrow upper lip being 2-cleft, while the wider lower lip is 8-cleft, with its middle and largest lobe cut into 2 scallops. In texture the corolla is fine and thin, and in color it is a deep and strong purple-blue. The 4 stamens, and the pistil, are long, and curve out from the hollow of the upper lip,--they are bright blue, and their tips, at first a rich red, become white as they mature. The small 5-pointed calyx is reddish, with a fine green bloom. The flowers grow in close groups of 3 or 5, in the angles of the leaves, and form an irregular one-sided terminal spike.