Cunila
(an ancient Latin name, of unknown origin). ORD. Labiatae. A genus containing about twelve species of herbs or sub-shrubs, natives, for the most part, of North America. Flowers white or purplish, small; corolla two-lipped, with the upper lip erect, flattish, mostly notched, and the lower somewhat equally three-cleft; calyx ovate-tubular, equally five-toothed, and hairy in the throat. Leaves large, dentate. C. mariana is perhaps the only species yet introduced to cultivation. It is a hardy perennial, thriving in a loam and peat soil. Increased by root division.
C. mariana (Maryland). Common Dittany. fl. purplish; cymes peduncled; calyx striated. July to September. l. smooth, ovate, serrate, rounded or heart-shaped at the base, nearly sessile, dotted, 1in. long. Stems tufted, corymbosely much-branched. h. 1ft. South New York to Ohio, Illinois, and southward. (S. B. F. G. 243.)