''Condea emoryi'' (synonym ''Hyptis emoryi)'', the desert lavender, is a large, multi-stemmed

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

species of

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 ...

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

, the mint family. It is one of the favored plants of

honeybee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosm ...

s in early spring in the southwest deserts of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Description

Desert lavender is a medium to tall cold tender perennial shrub found in the

southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and northwestern Mexico in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. It is a multi-stemmed shrub reaching 15–18 ft in optimum locations. It has violet-blue flowers up to 1 in, in leaf axils. The flowers are profuse along the main stem and side branches and is an

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...

attractor of the honeybee and other species. Leaves are oval and a whitish gray-green-(in deserts), serrated margins, hairy, and 2–3 in. It is found in dry washes, and on rocky slopes, up to 3000 ft (900 m). It is evergreen or cold deciduous, depending on location.

Taxonomy

Hyptis ''Hyptis'' is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. These plants, known commonly as bushmints, are widespread in tropical North and South America, as well as parts of West Africa. There are 150 species, which may be annual or perenn ...

'' was demonstrated to be

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

on the basis of evidence from nuclear and plastid DNA. The new

circumscription Circumscription may refer to: *Circumscribed circle * Circumscription (logic) *Circumscription (taxonomy) *Circumscription theory, a theory about the origins of the political state in the history of human evolution proposed by the American anthrop ...

excluded ''Hyptis emoryi'', which was transferred to ''

Condea ''Condea'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. Species * '' Condea albida'' * '' Condea americana'' * '' Condea anitae'' * '' Condea chyliantha'' * '' Condea cubensis'' * '' Condea decipiens'' * '' Condea domingensis'' * '' ...

.''

Distribution and habitat

It occurs mostly in areas with a water source; in the southwestern US deserts it is commonly in the dry washes, intermixed with other species. In the ''"

creosote bush ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...

scrub"''

Yuma Desert The Yuma Desert is a lower-elevation section of the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and the northwest of Mexico. It lies in the Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of sand dunes. With ...

-(western Sonoran Desert) of southwest Arizona, it is found with the palo verde, ''

Bebbia ''Bebbia'', common name sweetbush, is a genus of aromatic shrubs in the family Asteraceae.Encelia farinosa ''Encelia farinosa'' (commonly known as brittlebush, brittlebrush, or incienso), is a common desert shrub of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It has a variety of historical uses. Description Brittlebush grows up to tall, ...

'', desert ironwood (''

Olneya tesota ''Olneya tesota'' is a perennial flowering tree of the family Fabaceae, legumes (peas, beans, etc.), which is commonly known as ironwood, desert ironwood, or palo fierro in Spanish. It is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Olneya''. This t ...

''), ''

Lycium andersonii ''Lycium andersonii'' is a species of flowering plant in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its common names include water-jacket, redberry desert-thorn,Psorothamnus spinosus ''Psorothamnus spinosus'', or ''Delea spinosa'', is a perennial legume tree of the deserts in North America. Common names include smokethorn, smoketree, smoke tree, smokethorn dalea, and corona de Cristo. Distribution ''P. Spinosus'' is nati ...

'' (a type of smoke tree), and ''

Acacia greggii ''Senegalia greggii'', formerly known as ''Acacia greggii'', is a species of tree in the genus ''Senegalia'' native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, from the extreme south of Utah south through southern Nevada, southeast Ca ...

'', as some common associated species of the washes, elevation dependent. In Arizona, found from central to southwestern Arizona of the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...

; in northwest Arizona found in regions of the Mojave Desert. In southern California and Nevada, desert lavender is found in southern regions of the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

and the

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

of southeast California. File:Hyptisemoryi.jpg File:Hyptis emoryi 1.jpg File:Hyptis emoryi 2.jpg File:Hyptis emoryi 3.jpg File:Hyptis emoryi 4.jpg File:Hyptis emoryi 5.jpg

References

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA: NRCS: Plants Profile ''Hyptis emoryi''Arizona county rangeCaliforniaNevada
*

- Lady Bird Johnson–''"Wildflower Center"''

External links

Photo-stems & flowers
- desert-tropicals.com–''"Desert Tropicals"''
Photo:_Rocky_wash:_w/Bebbia-(dried),_Brittlebush
-in_yellow_bloom,_and_Saguaro.html" ;"title="Brittlebush">Photo: Rocky wash: w/Bebbia-(dried), Brittlebush
-in yellow bloom, and Saguaro">Brittlebush">Photo: Rocky wash: w/Bebbia-(dried), Brittlebush
-in yellow bloom, and Saguaro on plain]
Article, Synopsis, and photo gallery
- delange.org—''"Arizona Wild Flowers"'' {{Taxonbar, from=Q5962178 Lamiaceae Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Northwestern Mexico North American desert flora