Cedronella
(probably a diminutive of kedros, the Cedar: from the sweet odour of C. triphylla). ORD. Labiatae. Half-hardy or hardy herbs or shrubs. Whorls approximate into terminal spikes or racemes. Floral leaves bract-formed; bracts small, setaceous; corolla with an exserted tube, naked inside, a dilated throat, and a bilabiate limb. They thrive in a compost of sandy loam, leaf soil, and a little peat. The herbaceous species are propagated by division of the root, or by cuttings of young wood; C. triphylla by cuttings.
C. cana (hoary). fl. showy purple or crimson, disposed in numerous spikes. July. l. ovate-oblong, dentated, fragrant. h. 2ft. to 3ft. New Mexico, 1851. A very neat erect, hardy, evergreen species. (B. M. 4618.)
C. cordata (heart-shaped).* fl. light purple, in bracteate spikes; corolla twice as long as the calyx segments. May and June. l. ovate, cordate at the base, crenated, nearly sessile; shoots trailing. h. 4in. to 6in. Northern United States, 1880. Hardy. SYN. Dracocephalum cordatum.
C. mexicana (Mexican). fl., corolla purplish, three times as long as the calyx; whorls many-flowered, approximating into a terete, interrupted spike or raceme. l. ovate-lanceolate, cordate at the base, toothed. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Half-hardy. Mexico, 1832. SYN. Gardoquia betonicoides. (B. M. 3860.)
C. triphylla (three-leaved).* Balm of Gilead. fl. white or pale purple, about twice as long as the calyx; whorls loose, collected into terete oblong spikes. July. l. ternate; leaflets oblong-lanceolate; emitting a very sweet odour when gently rubbed. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Canary Islands, 1697. Half-hardy shrub. SYN. Dracocephalum canariense.