''Clinopodium'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 t ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

. It is in the

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

Mentheae of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Nepetoideae, but little else can be said with certainty about its phylogenetic position. The

genus name Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

''Clinopodium'' is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''clinopodion'', from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

(), from () "bed" and () "little foot". These were names for '' Clinopodium vulgare''.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume I, page 91. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington,DC;, USA. London, UK. (set). ''Clinopodium'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described speci ...

species including '' Coleophora albitarsella''. Various ''Clinopodium''

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

are used as

medicinal herbs Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...

. For example, ''C. laevigatum'' is used in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

as a tea under the name or to cure hangovers, stomach aches, and liver disease.

Taxonomy

''Clinopodium'' has been defined very differently by different authors. Some have restricted it to as few as 13 species, all closely related to the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specim ...

, ''Clinopodium vulgare''. In the latest revision of Lamiaceae, ''Clinopodium'' encompassed about 100 species, including those otherwise placed in the genera ''

Acinos ''Acinos'' is a genus of ten species of annual and short-lived evergreen perennial woody plants native to southern Europe and western Asia. Its name comes from the Greek word ', the name of a small aromatic plant. They are small, tufted, bu ...

'', ''

Calamintha ''Calamintha'' is a genus of plants that belongs to the family Lamiaceae. Commonly called the calamints, there are about eight species in the genus (around 30 before revisions in taxonomy) which is native to the northern temperate regions of Eu ...

'', and ''Xenopoma''.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón Morales, Alan J. Paton, and P. Olof Ryding. 2004. "Labiatae" pages 167-275. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor) and Joachim W. Kadereit (volume editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. This

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 ...

, called ''Clinopodium''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

, was shown 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 ...

in 2004, with additional information on the issue published in 2010.

Selected species

Steentijm.jpg, ''

Clinopodium acinos ''Clinopodium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. It is in the tribe Mentheae of the subfamily Nepetoideae, but little else can be said with certainty about its phylogenetic position. The genus name ''Clinopodium'' is ...

'' Acinos alpinus 002.JPG, '' Clinopodium alpinum'' Clinopodium arkansanum 5475026.jpg, '' Clinopodium glabrum'' Calamintha ashei.jpg, ''

Clinopodium ashei ''Clinopodium ashei'' (syn. ''Calamintha ashei'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names Ashe's savory and Ashe's calamint. It is native to Florida and Georgia in the United States.Clinopodium chinense ''Clinopodium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. It is in the tribe Mentheae of the subfamily Nepetoideae, but little else can be said with certainty about its phylogenetic position. The genus name ''Clinopodium'' is ...

'' Clinopodium coccineum01-Alabama.jpg, '' Clinopodium coccineum'' Micromeria corsica 3.JPG, '' Clinopodium corsicum'' Calamintha cretica.jpg, '' Clinopodium creticum'' Clinopodium dalmaticum kz03.jpg, '' Clinopodium dalmaticum'' Clinopodium dentatum (Calamintha dentata) - Bok Tower Gardens - DSC02109.jpg, '' Clinopodium dentatum'' Yerba Buena - Clinopodium douglasii.jpg, '' Clinopodium douglasii'' Clinopodium glabellum.jpg, '' Clinopodium glabellum'' Clinopodium gracile toubana02.jpg, '' Clinopodium gracile'' Clinopodium grandiflorum 1.jpg, '' Clinopodium grandiflorum'' Clinopodium macranthum 2.JPG, '' Clinopodium macranthum'' Clinopodium menthifolium sl1.jpg, '' Clinopodium menthifolium'' Clinopodium micranthum 2.JPG, '' Clinopodium micranthum'' Calamintha nepeta 1654.jpg, '' Clinopodium nepeta'' Clinopodium serpyllifolium Habitus 2011-12-18 SierraMadrona.jpg, '' Clinopodium serpyllifolium'' Clinopodium umbrosum (7782544696).jpg, '' Clinopodium umbrosum''

References

Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Lamiaceae genera {{Lamiaceae-stub