Phlomis
(the old Greek name used by Dioscorides). ORD. Labiatae. A genus of tomentose, woolly, canescent, or greenish, mostly hardy herbs, sub-shrubs, or shrubs, inhabiting temperature and mountainous Asia and the Mediterranean region. Upwards of seventy plants have been described as species, but, probably, not more than fifty are sufficiently distinct to merit specific rank. Flowers yellow, purple, or white; corolla with an inclosed or scarcely exserted tube, the upper lip compressed, entire or notched, tomentose or villous, sessile, and the lower three-cleft and spreading; whorls many-flowered, axillary; bracteoles often numerous, ovate, lanceolate, or narrow, appressed. Nutlets ovoid-triquetrous. Leaves wrinkled; floral ones conformed, or the uppermost ones diminutive. All the species are of easy culture in ordinary garden soil; they are well adapted for naturalising in shrubberies, wild banks, and borders. All may be increased by seeds; the shrubby sorts also by cuttings, and the herbaceous kinds by division. The under-mentioned species are those best known to cultivation, and are, except where otherwise indicated, hardy perennial herbs.
P. armeniaca (Armenian). fl., corolla yellow, similar to that of P. lychnitis; whorls six-flowered; bracts mucronulate. June and July. l. obscurely crenated; radical ones oblong; petioles cordate-oblong, obtuse; cauline ones lanceolate, attenuated at base. h. 6in. to 12in. Armenia, 1834. Plant floccose-woolly. (S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 364.) P. cashmeriana (Cashmere).* fl. pale lilac; corolla larger than in P. pungens (to which species this is allied); bracts subulate, ciliated, longer than the calyx. July. l. ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, crenated towards the apex, broadly rounded at base, pubescent or villous above, white-tomentose beneath. Stem densely floccose-tomentose. h. 2ft. Cashmere. (B. R. 1844, 22.) P. ferruginea (rusty).* fl. yellow, densely tomentose outside; whorls twelve to twenty-flowered. June. l. oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, crenulated, cordate at the base, much wrinkled and green above, but tomentose beneath. Branches clothed with rusty-purple, loose wool. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Italy, Crete, &c., 1823. Hardy shrub.
P. floccosa (floccose). fl., corolla yellow, the size of that of P. Samia; whorls few, distant, large, twenty to thirty-flowered. July to October. l. ovate-oblong, much wrinkled, cordate at base, greenish above, and clothed with floccose wool beneath. Branches also floccose-woolly. h. 2ft. Egypt, 1828. Half-hardy sub-shrub. (B. R. 1300.) P. fruticosa (shrubby).* Jerusalem Sage. fl. yellow or dusky-yellow, very showy; whorls solitary or twin at the tops of the branches, twenty to thirty-flowered. June. l. ovate or oblong, roundly cuneated at the base, wrinkled, green above, and clothed with white tomentum beneath. Branches clothed with tomentum, which is usually yellow. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Mediterranean region, 1596. Hardy shrub. (B. M. 1843; S. F. G. 563.) P. herba-venti (wind-herb).* fl. purplish-violet, tomentose outside; whorls ten to twenty-flowered. July to September. l. oblong-lanceolate, crenated, rounded at the base, coriaceous, green on both surfaces, or canescent beneath. Branches beset with long hairs. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Mediterranean region, &c., 1596. An erect, divaricately much-branched species. (B. M. 2449; S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 74; S. F. G. 564.) P. lychnitis (link). Lamp-wick. fl., corolla yellow, twice as long as the calyx. June to August. l. sessile, oblong-linear, narrowed at both ends, stem-clasping; cauline ones 2in. to 3in. long, scarcely 1/3in. broad, green or canescent above, white-tomentose beneath; floral ones very broad at base. h. 2ft. South Europe, 1658. Plant suffruticose, hoary-tomentose. (B. M. 999.) P. pungens (pungent). fl., corolla purplish-violet; whorls six to ten-flowered; bracts subulate, ciliated. July. l. on short petioles, ovate-lanceolate, quite entire or serrated, rounded at base, shining green above, and rather scabrous, clothed with hoary tomentum beneath. Branches also hoary-tomentose, divaricating. h. 1 1/2ft. to 2ft. South-eastern Europe, 1820. (S. B. F. G. 33.) P. Samia (Samos). fl. greenish cream-colour on the outside, and thickly set with hairs, pinkish inside; lower lip also pinkish inside, with numerous, darker-coloured veins or streaks; whorls axillary and terminal,ten to fifteen-flowered; bracts numerous, linear, very acute. Early summer. l. ovate-cordate, acute, crenated, wrinkled, green above, clothed with grey tomentum beneath, on hairy stalks. Stems herbaceous, tall, pubescent. h. 2ft. to 3ft. North Africa, &c., 1714. (A. B. R. 584; B. M. 1891; S. F. G. 564.) P. tuberosa (tuberous). fl. purplish-rose, densely hairy, very numerously disposed in dense whorls; upper lip very hairy, and margined with a delicate white fringe; lower lip perfectly smooth. June. l. ample ovate, obtuse, crenated, deeply cordate at the base; floral ones oblong-lanceolate. Stem herbaceous, purplish. Roots tuberous. h. 3ft. to 5ft. East of Europe to Siberia, 1759. (B. M. 1555.) P. viscosa (clammy). fl. yellow, tomentose outside; whorls large, from forty to fifty-flowered; bracts linear, very acute. June. l., radical ones very ample, ovate, deeply cordate at the base, all wrinkled, green above, and tomentose beneath. Branches tall, almost simple, tomentose. h. 3ft. to 5ft. Syria, 1821. (B. M. 2542, under name of P. lunarifolia Russelliana.)
