. The Indiana weed book. Weeds. 122 THE INDIAKA. WKTCB BOOK. mainly in having the leaves wider and slender-stalked, the corolla and calyx less hairs'-. Both are homely weeds which For the moist part occupy unused ground and therefore do little harm. Rem- edies : draining and then mowing for a year or two; cultivation. 88. Hedeoma pulegioides L. Pennyroyal. ( 3.) Stem slender, erect, much branched, finely and softly hairy, G-18 Inches high; leaves ovate to oblong, thin, short-stalked, few-toothed. Flowers In small rather loose axillary clusters; teeth of upi>er calyx lip triangular; coro
. The Indiana weed book. Weeds. 122 THE INDIAKA. WKTCB BOOK. mainly in having the leaves wider and slender-stalked, the corolla and calyx less hairs'-. Both are homely weeds which For the moist part occupy unused ground and therefore do little harm. Rem- edies : draining and then mowing for a year or two; cultivation. 88. Hedeoma pulegioides L. Pennyroyal. ( 3.) Stem slender, erect, much branched, finely and softly hairy, G-18 Inches high; leaves ovate to oblong, thin, short-stalked, few-toothed. Flowers In small rather loose axillary clusters; teeth of upi>er calyx lip triangular; corolla bluish-purple with darker spots, i inch long, the upper lip notched; perfect stamens only 2. Nutlets egg-shaped, finely wrinkled, 1/32 inc'a long. (Fig. 80.) A strongly aromatic and well known little herb, very common in old fields, open upland wooded pastures, along fence-rows and about old stumps. June-Oct. The average stem of pennyroyal bears 12 whorls or clusters of flowets, each whorl having 8 to 10 flowers. Counting 100 flowers to the stem and 4 seeds to the flower, each plant produces at least 400 seeds. When it grows thickly there are at least 40 stems to the square foot, so that we have seeds of a single plant pro- duced on each square foot of surface. Thus do the wild things of nature hold their own. A myriad are where one is yet to be. When the rambler through some old pasture in southern Indiana seats himself beneath the shade of oak or maple on a sum- mer day the first thing to greet him is usually the odor, of pennyroyal. The blos- soming plant is then everywhere abundant on the clay lands of the woodland slopes. From the half sterile soil its rootlets gather in the elements of the essential oil which ex- hales the penetrating odor. Within the cells of leaf and stem those elements are sorted and combined and by a process of chemical changes the oil is there produced. The odor is so strong and lasting that it readily survives the winter and in March or A
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