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.

Common Name: PITCHER SAGE
Habit: [Perennial herb] shrub [tree], < 2 m, aromatic. Leaf: petioled, generally reduced to sessile bracts distally; blade generally 4--12 cm, lanceolate to ovate, rounded to cordate at base, crenate or serrate to entire. Inflorescence: raceme, open; bracts 1 per flower, leaf-like, lanceolate; pedicels persistent after fruit-fall. Flower: calyx 5-lobed, +- 2-lipped, scarlet-purple in age, enlarging in fruit, generally falling with fruit; corolla 5-lobed, 2-lipped, white to lavender tinged, lower lip longer, upper lip 4-lobed; stamens 4, in 2 pairs, included in throat, anther sacs spreading; style 2-lobed, included in throat. Fruit: 2--4 mm, round to oblong, black to dark brown, glabrous or minutely hairy. Chromosomes: 2n=32.
Etymology: (I.I. Lepechin, Russian botanist, 1737--1802)
eFlora Treatment Author: Deborah Engle Averett
Reference: Boyd & Mistretta 2006 Madroño 53:77--84