Common Name: MINT FAMILY
Habit: Annual to shrub [tree, vine], glabrous to hairy, generally aromatic. Stem: generally erect, generally 4-angled. Leaf: generally simple to deeply lobed, generally opposite, generally gland-dotted. Inflorescence: generally cymes, generally many in dense axillary clusters surrounding stem, generally separated by evident internodes or collectively crowded, spike- or panicle-like, occasionally head-like or raceme, subtended by leaves or bracts; flowers sessile or pedicelled. Flower: generally bisexual; calyx generally 5-lobed, radial to bilateral; corolla generally bilateral, 1--2-lipped, upper lip entire or 2-lobed, +- flat to hood-like, occasionally 0, lower lip generally 3-lobed; stamens generally 4, epipetalous, generally exserted, paired, pairs generally unequal, occasionally 2, staminodes 2 or 0; ovary superior, generally 4-lobed to base chambers 2, ovules 2 per chamber, style 1, generally arising from center at junction of lobes, stigmas generally 2. Fruit: generally 4 nutlets, generally ovoid to oblong, smooth.
Genera In Family: +- 230 genera, 7200 species: worldwide. Many cultivated for herbs, oils (Lavandula, lavender; Mentha, mint; Rosmarinus, rosemary; Thymus, thyme), some cultivated as ornamental (in California Cedronella, Leonotis, Monarda, Phlomis). Note: Moluccella laevis L., shell flower, historical waif in California. Satureja calamintha (L.) Scheele subsp. ascendens (Jordan) Briq. reported as alien but not naturalized. Salazaria moved to Scutellaria; California Hyptis moved to Condea, California Satureja moved to Clinopodium.
eFlora Treatment Author: Dieter H. Wilken & Margriet Wetherwax, family description, key to genera, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.

Habit: Annual, perennial herb, glabrous to short-hairy. Stem: ascending to erect, branched or not. Leaf: petioled, crenate to deeply lobed, lobes oblong. Inflorescence: generally spike-like, occasionally few-flowered, flowers subtended by leaves or bracts. Flower: calyx +- radial, 10-veined, 5-lobed, lobes +- equal; corolla 1-lipped, tube split above, lip 5-lobed, +- flat, distal lobe > lateral lobes, tip rounded, lateral lobe tips acute to obtuse; stamens 4, lower pair generally > upper; style lobes generally equal.
Species In Genus: +- 100 species: worldwide, especially Mediterranean. Etymology: (Teucer, a Trojan monarch) Note: Teucrium canadense L. var. occidentale (A. Gray) E.M. McClintock & Epling, not in California.
Unabridged Note: Teucrium canadense L. var. occidentale (A. Gray) E.M. McClintock & Epling, a hairy perennial herb with ovate to lanceolate, serrate leaves known from Arizona, Oregon, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Washington, northern to Canada and southern to Mexico., not in California; Teucrium fruticans L. is alien but not naturalized.
eFlora Treatment Author: John M. Miller & Dieter H. Wilken
Reference: Wagstaff et al. 1998 Pl Syst Evol 209:265--274
Unabridged Reference: Cronquist & Reveal 1984 Intermountain Flora 4:303--304; McClintock & Epling 1946 Brittonia 5:491--510