Lamiaceae
From Freepedia
| Mint family | ||||||||||
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| Image:Melissa officinalis1.jpg Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) | ||||||||||
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| Genera | ||||||||||
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Many, see text Ref: Watson and Dallwitz |
Lamiaceae, or the Mint family, is a family of plants in about 210 genera and some 3,500 species.
These include many widely used culinary herbs, such as basil, mint, rosemary, sage, marjoram, oregano and thyme. Some are shrubs, but rarely trees or vines.
It was originally called Labiatae because the flowers typically have petals fused into an upper lip and a lower lip.
The leaves contain aromatic essential oils and emerge oppositely, each pair at right angles to the previous one (called decussate) or whorled.
The stems are square in cross section.
The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with 5 united petals, 5 united sepals. They are usually bisexual and verticillastrate (a flower cluster that looks like a whorl of flowers but actually consists of two crowded clusters).
Genera
External link
- Lamiaceae in L. Watson and M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). The families of flowering plants: descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. http://delta-intkey.com
