The Gipsy-Wort.
One species—the Water Figwort (Scrophularia aquatica)—grows in marshes and on the banks of ditches and streams. It has a stout, angular stem, the angles of which are drawn out into narrow wings; smooth, opposite, blunt leaves, cordate at the base, with crenate or toothed margins; and long, narrow panicles of flowers with blunt bracts. The five lobes of the calyx are fringed with a conspicuous, transparent, membranous border.
The other is the Knotted Figwort (S. nodosa), which is much like the last, but emits a disagreeable odour, and may be further distinguished by the little green, fleshy knots of its rhizome. Its stem is sharply four-angled, but not winged; its leaves are acute, and doubly toothed; and the panicle has small, narrow, sharp bracts.
Passing now to the order Labiatæ, we come first to the Gipsy-wort (Lycopus europæus), an erect, branched, slightly hairy plant, from one to three feet high, bearing dense whorls of small, white, sessile flowers from June to September. The calyx has five equal teeth with stiff points; and the corolla, which is only slightly longer than the calyx, has four nearly equal lobes. This plant is abundant in most parts of Britain, and is generally seen on the banks of ditches.
The Round-Leaved Mint.
In the same order we have the Mints (genus Mentha)—strongly-scented plants with creeping rootstocks and runners; and small flowers in dense, axillary whorls, or in terminal spikes or clusters. In all the calyx has five equal teeth; and the corolla is bell-shaped, with a short tube, and four lobes of which the upper is broader. There are four erect, equal stamens; and the fruit consists of four small, smooth nuts. Three species, more or less abundant, occur in marshy or other wet places. They are:—
1. The Round-leaved Mint (Mentha rotundifolia).—A moderately common, erect, hairy plant, from one to three feet high, with a powerful but hardly agreeable odour. Its stem is green, hairy, and branched; and the leaves are sessile, broadly ovate or round, blunt, wrinkled, green above, and whitish and shaggy beneath. The flowers are small, lilac (occasionally white), in dense, cylindrical, leafy spikes from one to two inches long. The bracts are rather narrow and sharply pointed, and the corolla is hairy. The time of flowering is August and September.
2. The Water Mint (M. aquatica).—An abundant marsh plant, from one to three feet high, flowering from July to September, possessing a strong, pleasant odour. Its stem is much branched, generally clothed with soft hairs; and its leaves are stalked, ovate, serrate, the upper ones passing into bracts which are shorter than the flowers. The latter are lilac, and form dense, terminal, oblong or globular clusters, with, frequently, two or three dense, axillary whorls beneath. The calyx is tubular, about an eighth of an inch long, with very sharp teeth.
3. The Marsh Whorled Mint (M. sativa).—A very similar plant, common in wet places, flowering during July and August. It grows from two to five feet high; and its elliptical, toothed leaves are hairy on both sides. The flowers are lilac, in dense, axillary whorls, without any terminal cluster.