''Aloysia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

verbena ''Verbena'' (), also known as vervain or verveine, is a genus in the family Verbenaceae. It contains about 150 species of annual and perennial herbaceous or semi-woody flowering plants. The majority of the species are native to the Americas a ...

family,

Verbenaceae The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell. The ...

. They are known generally as beebrushes.''Aloysia''.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). They are native to the Americas, where they are distributed in

temperate climate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

s, as well as in

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

and

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

s.Siedo, S. J. (2012)
Four new species of the genus ''Aloysia'' (Verbenaceae).
''Lundellia'' 15, 35-46. The genus is named for

Maria Luisa of Parma Maria Luisa of Parma (Luisa Maria Teresa Anna; 9 December 1751 – 2 January 1819) was, by marriage to King Charles IV of Spain, Queen of Spain from 1788 to 1808 leading up to the Peninsular War. Her relationship with Manuel Godoy and influence o ...

(1751-1819), wife of King

Charles IV of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles III of Spain , mother =Maria Amalia of Saxony , birth_date =11 November 1748 , birth_place =Palace of Portici, Portici, Naples , death_date = , death_place = ...

.''Aloysia''.
The Jepson eFlora 2013.

Description

These plants are subshrubs, shrubs, or

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing 0.5 meters to 15 meters tall. Many are very aromatic. The stems may be four-angled and smooth when new, becoming more angular or rounded and often furrowed or striated with age. The leaves are evergreen or

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

in the dry season. They are often oppositely arranged or whorled, but can be alternate or clustered. The blades are variable in shape, toothed or smooth-edged, and hairless to rough-haired on the upper surfaces. The undersides may have glandular hairs. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is usually a

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

of widely spaced clusters of 3 to 6 flowers each. There are leaflike

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s under the flowers which can be showy in some species. The calyx of

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s has 2 or 4 lobes and is persistent, enclosing the fruit as it develops. The flower corolla is tubular with a wider mouth divided into four lobes, one of which may be cleft. The corolla can be white, purplish, blue, or pink. The narrow

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

is tipped with a bilobed stigma and there are 4

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s. The fruit is a

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...

Diversity

There are about 30 species. Species include: *'' Aloysia arequipensis'' *'' Aloysia barbata'' *'' Aloysia brasiliensis'' *'' Aloysia castellanosii'' *'' Aloysia catamarcensis'' *'' Aloysia chamaedryfolia'' *'' Aloysia chiapensis'' * ''

Aloysia citrodora ''Aloysia citrodora'', lemon verbena, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family Verbenaceae, native to South America. Other common names include lemon beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish and the Portuguese in the 17th ce ...

'' Paláu – lemon verbena, lemon beebrush *'' Aloysia coalcomana'' *'' Aloysia cordata'' *'' Aloysia crenata'' * '' Aloysia dodsoniorum'' Moldenke *'' Aloysia dusenii'' *'' Aloysia fiebrigii'' *'' Aloysia gratissima''( Gillies &

Hook. Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew h ...

) Tronc. – common beebrush, whitebrush, whitebushSoule, J. A. ''Butterfly Gardening In Southern Arizona''. Tierra del Sol Press, Tucson, Arizona. 2012. *'' Aloysia hatschbachii'' *'' Aloysia herrerae'' *'' Aloysia lycioides''

Cham. Adelbert von Chamisso (; 30 January 178121 August 1838) was a Germans, German poet and botanist, author of ''Peter Schlemihl'', a famous story about a man who sold his shadow. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso (or Chamissot ...

* '' Aloysia macrostachya'' ( Torr.) Moldenke – Rio Grande beebrush *'' Aloysia minthiosa'' *'' Aloysia nahuire'' *'' Aloysia oblanceolata'' *'' Aloysia peruviana'' *'' Aloysia polygalifolia'' *'' Aloysia polystachya''( Grisebach & Moldenke) – burro, burrito, ka'á jaguá *'' Aloysia salviifolia'' *'' Aloysia scorodonioides'' *'' Aloysia sonorensis'' *'' Aloysia velutina'' * '' Aloysia virgata'' ( Ruiz & Pav.)

Pers. Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1 February 1761 – 16 November 1836) was a German mycologist who made additions to Linnaeus' mushroom taxonomy. Early life Persoon was born in South Africa at the Cape of Good Hope, the third child of an imm ...

– almond verbena * ''

Aloysia wrightii ''Aloysia wrightii'' is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family known by the common names Wright's beebrush and oreganillo. It is native to the Sonoran Desert of southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it can be found ...

'' (A.Gray) A.Heller – mintbush lippia, Wright's beebrush

Formerly placed here

* ''

Mulguraea ligustrina ''Mulguraea'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Verbenaceae. Its native range is Peru to southern South America. It is found in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. The genus name of ''Mulguraea'' is in hono ...

'' (as ''A. ligustrina'' (Lag.) Small)GRIN Species Records of ''Aloysia''.
Germplasm Resources Information Network.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1946965 Verbenaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot