Hyssop.Hyssopus officinalis.
Found along roadside banks, near human habitations, during July and August.
The stalk is 8 or 12 inches high with many leaves and trig little branches; it is square, tough-fibred, slender, and smooth. The color is light green, inclining to a blue-green,—reddish near the foot.
The long and narrow leaf has a blunt-pointed tip, an entire margin, and shows only its midrib; the texture is thick and a little stiff, and the surface is very slightly rough. In color it is a fine gray-green, with a hint of the rich color of the flower. The leaves grow upon the stem in clustered pairs, which occur at right angles to each other.
The small tubular flower is 2-lipped; the narrow upper lip being 2-cleft, while the wider lower lip is 8-cleft, with its middle and largest lobe cut into 2 scallops. In texture the corolla is fine and thin, and in color it is a deep and strong purple-blue. The 4 stamens, and the pistil, are long, and curve out from the hollow of the upper lip,—they are bright blue, and their tips, at first a rich red, become white as they mature. The small 5-pointed calyx is reddish, with a fine green bloom. The flowers grow in close groups of 3 or 5, in the angles of the leaves, and form an irregular one-sided terminal spike.
This plant affords a perfect example of color-harmony, with its contrasting absolute purplish-blue corolla, and deep red stamens, brought into unity by the purple-toned green of its leaves. It has a strong and pungent scent.