a. and sb. [ad. mod.L. labiāt-us, f. LABI-UM: see -ATE3.] A. adj.
1. Bot. a. Lipped: applied to flowers that have the corolla or calyx divided into two parts opposed in such a way as to suggest lips; bilabiate. b. Belonging to the N.O. Labiatæ, consisting of herbaceous plants and under-shrubs, characterized by flowers of the form above described, opposite leaves, and usually square stalks, e.g., the mints, ground-ivy, the dead nettles, etc.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), Labiate Flowers (among Herbalists) are those that have one or two Lips; some of which represent a kind of Helmet, or Monk’s Hood.
1785. Martyn, Rousseau’s Bot., iv. 46. The white Dead-nettle bears a monopetalous labiate flower.
1835. Lindley, Introd. Bot. (1848), I. 334. When the two lips are separated from each other by a wide regular orifice,… the corolla is said to be labiate or ringent.
1862. H. W. Bellew, Mission Afghanistan, 451. The greensward … was covered with a variety of labiate herbs, amongst which the wild thyme, mint, basil, sage, and lavender were recognized.
1881. Sci. Gossip, 254. The black horehound and other labiate plants.
2. a. Anat. and Zool. Formed like or resembling in shape, function, etc., a lip or labium. b. Ent. Of an orifice: Having thickened, fleshy margins.
In recent Dicts.
B. sb. Bot. A labiate plant.
1845. Lindley, Sch. Bot., vi. (1862), 95. Order XLIV. Lamiaceaæ—Labiates.
1861. S. Thomson, Wild Flowers, III. (ed. 4), 196. The common bugle,… one of the labiates.
1879. Lubbock, Sci. Lect., i. 19. Generally in the Labiates, the corolla has the lower lip adapted as an alighting board for insects.
