reat
basin of the Mediterranean--at least eight out of twelve species are
there found to be indigenous on mountain slopes.

The most commonly known species are _L. vera, L. spica_ and _L staechas_.
Commercially the _L. vera_ is the most valuable by reason of the
superior delicacy of its perfume; it is found on the sterile hills and
stony declivities at the foot of the Alps of Provence, the lower Alps of
Dauphine and Cevannes (growing in some places at an altitude of 4,500
feet above the sea level), also northward, in exposed situations, as far
as Monton, near Lyons, but not beyond the 46th degree of latitude; in
Piedmont as far as Tarantaise, and in Switzerland, in Lower Vallais,
near Nyon, in the canton of Vaud, and at Vuilly. It has been gathered
between Nice and Cosni, in the neighborhood of Limone, on the elevated
slopes of the mountains of western Liguria, and in Etruria on hills near
the sea. The _L. spica_, which is the only species besides _L. vera_
hardy in this country, was formerly considered only a variety of _L.
vera_; it is distinguished by its lower habit, much whiter color, the
leaves more congested at the base of the branches, the spikes denser and
shorter, the floral leaves lanceolate or linear, and the presence of
linear and subulate bractes.

It yields by distillation an oil termed "oil of spike," or, to
distinguish it from oil of _L. staechas_, "true oil of spike." It is
darker in color than the oil of _L. vera_, and much less grateful in
odor, reminding one of turpentine and rancid coker nut oil. It is used
by painters on porcelain, and in the manufacture of varnishes. It is
often largely admixed with essence of turpentine.

_L. Staechas_ (Stichas) was discovered prior to the year 50 A.D. in the
Staechades Islands (now the Islands of Hyeres), hence the name. At
present it is found wild in the South of Europe and North of Africa,
also at Teneriffe. The leaves are oblong linear, about half an inch long
(sometimes an inch long when cultivated), with revolute edges and
clothed with hoary tomentum on both surfaces; the spike is tetragonal,
compact, with a tuft of purple leaves at the top; the calyces are ovate
and slightly shorter than the tube of the corolla. The whole plant has a
strong aromatic and agreeable flavor. There is a variety of this species
(_L. macrostachya_) native of Corsica, Sicily, and Naples, which has
broader leaves and thicker octagonal spikes.

_L. staechas_ is known in Spain a