Family: Lamiaceae — mint family
Species in the Lamiaceae are herbs or shrubs with distinctively 4-sided stems. The leaves and stems of many species have a strong scent when crushed. The leaves are opposite or may be arranged in a whorl. The flowers are clustered in whorls at the end of the flowering stalks or in the junctions of leaves and stems. They have both pollen-bearing and ovule-bearing parts and are zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical). There are usually 5 sepals and petals, with sepals that are fused together at the base. The petals are also fused together at the base, usually with 2 of the 5 lobes forming an upper lip of the flower, and the other 3 lobes forming a lower lip. There are 2 or 4 stamens and an ovary with 2 carpels. The fruit is a schizocarp, and splits into 4 segments at maturity.
This family’s genera in New England
- Agastache
- Ajuga
- Ballota
- Blephilia
- Clinopodium
- Collinsonia
- Dracocephalum
- Elsholtzia
- Galeopsis
- Glechoma
- Hedeoma
- Hyssopus
- Lamium
- Lavandula
- Leonurus
- Lycopus
- Marrubium
- Melissa
- Mentha
- Monarda
- Nepeta
- Ocimum
- Origanum
- Perilla
- Physostegia
- Prunella
- Pycnanthemum
- Salvia
- Satureja
- Scutellaria
- Sideritis
- Stachys
- Teucrium
- Thymus
- Trichostema
Visit this family in the Dichotomous Key