LABIATZE

the name given to an important order of dicotyledonous plants, consisting of about 3,000 species which thrive in ali parts of the world. The species are herbaceous or shrubby, the majority are land-plants, but a few are found in marshes; they are characterized | by their square stems and opposite decu ate leaves as well as by the flower, The inflorescence is a verticillaster of bilabiate ringent flowers; the sepals and — petals are cach five in number and united, there are four didynamous and epipetalous stamens, the superior ovary consists of two united carpels and is quadrilocular; the fruit is a carcerules. Some of the chief genera are Lamium, the, (e.g.) thyme.