''Lycopus'' (water horehound, gypsywort, or bugleweed) is a genus in the family

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 ...

. They are all

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition o ...

plants native to

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Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, and

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 th ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The species are most often found in wetlands, damp meadows, and stream banks. Some of the wetland species have become endangered.

Appearance

The genus includes only

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

species; they spread by both

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s and stems rooting as they grow along the ground. Small white flowers bloom in late summer on leaf axials. Leaves are bright green, pointed, lobed, and like all mints occur in opposite pairs. Some species start with curled purple leaves that unfurl to a bright green coloration. The species in this genus vary in size, but generally grow to about .

Ethnobotanical history

The plant's juice yields black

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution and ...

, supposedly used by the

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

to tan their skin to mimic

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

, hence the common name of ''Gypsywort'' for '' Lycopus europaeus.''

Apothecaries ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Ameri ...

and herbalists used the leaves, stems, and flowers for their

astringent An astringent (sometimes called adstringent) is a chemical that shrinks or constricts body tissues. The word derives from the Latin ''adstringere'', which means "to bind fast". Calamine lotion, witch hazel, and yerba mansa, a Californian pla ...

and sedative qualities as well as for anxiety,

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

, and palpitations.

Fossil record

Fossil seeds of †''Lycopus antiquus'' are known from the Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as e ...

of southern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

, from the Miocene of

Lower Lusatia Lower Lusatia (; ; ; szl, Dolnŏ Łużyca; ; ) is a historical region in Central Europe, stretching from the southeast of the German state of Brandenburg to the southwest of Lubusz Voivodeship in Poland. Like adjacent Upper Lusatia in the sou ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, and from the Late Miocene

of western

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. ''Lycopus antiquus'' has possibly been applied to more than one

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

species which were widely distributed in Europe and

from the

to the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Lycopus alissoviae'' Prob. – Primorye region of Russia #'' Lycopus americanus'' Muhl. ex W.P.C.Barton – American bugleweed - widespread across most of United States and Canada #'' Lycopus amplectens'' Raf. – eastern United States #'' Lycopus angustifolius'' Elliott – southeastern United States #'' Lycopus asper'' Greene – rough bugleweed - western Canada, western + central United States #'' Lycopus australis'' R.Br. – Australian Gypsywort - Australia #'' Lycopus cavaleriei'' H.Lév. – Korean bugleweed - China, Japan, Korea, Sakhalin, Kuril Islands #'' Lycopus charkeviczii'' Prob. – Primorye region of Russia #'' Lycopus cokeri'' H.E.Ahles ex Sorrie – North Carolina, South Carolina #'' Lycopus europaeus'' L. – Gypsywort - Europe, North Africa, northern Asia; naturalized in New Zealand and North America #'' Lycopus exaltatus'' L.f. – central + eastern Europe, Siberia, Central Asia, Xinjiang, Caucasus, Western Himalayas #'' Lycopus hirtellus'' Kom. – Primorye region of Russia #'' Lycopus × intermedius'' Hausskn. – Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Greece ''(L. europaeus × L. exaltatus)'' #'' Lycopus kurilensis'' Prob. – Kuril Islands #'' Lycopus laurentianus'' Roll.-Germ. – Quebec #'' Lycopus lucidus'' Turcz. ex Benth. –

Traditional Chinese Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...

herb to make '' Lycopi rhizoma'' - China, Japan, Korea, Siberia, Russian Far East #'' Lycopus rubellus'' Moench – central + eastern United States #'' Lycopus × sherardii'' Steele – Quebec, Ontario, eastern United States #'' Lycopus sichotensis'' Prob. – Primorye region of Russia #'' Lycopus uniflorus'' Michx. – northern bugleweed - Canada, United States. China, Japan, Korea, Russian Far East #'' Lycopus virginicus'' L. – Virginia bugleweed/water-horehound - central + eastern United States

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q158341 Lamiaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus