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: SKULLCAP
Habit: Perennial herb or shrub, generally hairy, occasionally glandular, from rhizomes or tubers. Stem: erect, branched or not. Leaf: basal and cauline; proximal generally petioled; distal cauline +- sessile. Inflorescence: flower 1--2 per leaf axil, or appearing as a bracted raceme. Flower: calyx 2-lipped, lips +- equal, enclosing nutlets, back of upper lip dome-like or transversely ridged, generally concave-depressed behind ridge; corolla 2-lipped, white to violet-blue, upper lip < lower, +- entire, hood-like, lower lip 3-lobed; stamens 4, pairs +- equal, enclosed by upper corolla lip, anthers ciliate, lower 2 1-chambered; disk below ovary generally green-yellow. Fruit: generally ovoid, generally minutely papillate, brown or black.
Species In Genus: +- 300 species: generally temperate worldwide. Etymology: (Latin: tray, from calyx dome or ridge) Note: Salazaria occasionally treated as separate genus.
eFlora Treatment Author: Richard G. Olmstead
Reference: Olmstead 1990 Contr Univ Michigan Herb 17:223--265
Unabridged Reference: Paton 1990 Kew Bull 45:399--450; Wagstaff et al. 1998 Pl Syst Evol 209:265--274