Lamiaceae

Lamiaceae or Labiatae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as mints, deadnettles, or sages. Many species in Lamiaceae are aromatic, and the family includes many widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, thyme, lemon balm, lavender, and perilla, as well as traditional medicines such as catnip, skullcap, bee balm, wild dagga, self-heal, and oriental motherwort. Some species are shrubs, trees (such as teak), or, rarely, vines, but most are herbaceous. Many members of the family are widely cultivated, not only for their aromatic qualities, but also their ease of cultivation through stem cuttings. Many species are cultivated for their aromatic leaves and can have additional edible parts. Some species are grown for seed, such as Salvia hispanica (chia), or for their edible tubers, such as Plectranthus edulis, P. esculentus, P. rotundifolius, and Stachys affinis (Chinese artichoke). Many are also grown ornamentally, notably coleus, Plectranthus, and Salvia species/hybrids. The mint family as a whole has a cosmopolitan distribution comprising about 236 genera and around 6,900 to 7,200 species. The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families estimates an even larger number with 7,534 species. The largest genera are Salvia (900), Scutellaria (360), Stachys (300), Plectranthus (300), Hyptis (280), Teucrium (250), Vitex (250), Thymus (220), and Nepeta (200). Clerodendrum was once a genus of over 400 species, but by 2010, it had been narrowed to about 150. The family has traditionally been considered closely related to Verbenaceae; in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in Verbenaceae should be classified in Lamiaceae or to other families in the order Lamiales. The alternative family name Labiatae refers to the flowers typically having petals fused into an upper lip and a lower lip (labia in Latin). Although this is still considered an acceptable alternative name,...