Blephilia
Blephilia | |
---|---|
Downy pagoda-plant (Blephilia ciliata) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Lamiaceae |
Subfamily: | Nepetoideae |
Tribe: | Mentheae |
Genus: | Blephilia (L.) Raf. |
Blephilia, the pagoda plant or wood mint, is a genus of three species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. They are all herbaceous plants native to eastern North America.[1][2] Blephilia are most often found in open areas, glades, and mesic forests. All species of Blephilia are considered threatened or endangered in some states. [3] [4][5]
The genus includes only perennial species that spread by both seeds and through stem division. Small white to purple-lavender flowers occur in inflorescences that cluster in the upper leaf axils, often in several circular layers (hence the common name pagoda-plant). Leaves are generally lanceolate to ovate and vary in shades of green. Leaves are either petiolate or subsessile (depending on the species).[5] Like many other members of the subtribe Menthinae, all parts of Blephilia are highly aromatic when crushed and have smells similar to menthol and spearmint.
Species[]
- Blephilia ciliata (L.) Benth. – downy pagoda-plant – widespread from Texas and Florida north to Quebec and Ontario
- Blephilia hirsuta (Pursh) Benth. – hairy pagoda-plant – widespread from Texas and Georgia north to Quebec and Ontario
- Simmers & Kral – Cumberland pagoda-plant – endemic to northeastern Alabama
References[]
- ^ "Blephilia". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- ^ "Blephilia". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2013.
- ^ "Blephilia". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
- ^ "Blephilia". Native Plant Database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Simmers, Richard W.; Kral, Robert (1992). "A NEW SPECIES OF BLEPHILIA (LAMIACEAE) FROM NORTHERN ALABAMA". Rhodora. 94 (877): 1–14. ISSN 0035-4902.
- Lamiaceae
- Lamiaceae genera
- Flora of the Eastern United States
- Flora of Canada