Clinopodium brownei

(Sw.) Kuntze

St John's mint

Lamiaceae Edible: Leaves - tea, Leaves - flavouring 1,897 iNaturalist observations

iNaturalist· cc-by

iNaturalist· cc-by-nc

Summary

Clinopodium brownei, or Browne's savory, is a perennial with sprawling square stems and opposite leaves. This herb is heavily pubescent on the stem and inner and outer calyx. The corolla is bilabiate. The lips are thin and delicate and may contain hairs. The corolla color is pinkish-white to lavender and sometimes white. There are four stamens which are didynamous and epipetalis. The ovary is 4 lobed with a gynobasic style with acute apices. Under the ovary appears to be a nectiferous gland. This herb is found during late winter and early spring in marshy environments along the coastal plain of the southeastern United States, specifically from Texas through South Carolina, as well as in Mexico, Central America, South America and the West Indies.

Description

A herb in the mint family (Lamiaceae) with temperate distribution, found in Argentina below 500 m altitude.

This description is brief — help expand it

Edible Uses

The leaves are used for flavouring dishes and brewed as tea.

Traditional Uses

The leaves are used for flavouring and for tea.

This uses section is brief — help expand it

Medicinal Uses

Traditional uses mention flavouring and tea preparation.

Distribution

It is a temperate plant. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, North America, Paraguay, Uruguay, USA, West Indies,

Other Uses

The plant has a strong aroma of pennyroyal (Hedeoma pulegioides). The essential oil of that plant is often employed in the United States, where it is applied to the skin as a preventive of mosquito bites. It is to be presumed that this species has the same properties.