| Display parents | 2 |
|---|---|
| Taxon | Blephilia |
| Authority | (L.) Raf. |
Blephilia, the pagoda plant or wood mint, is a genus of four species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. They are all herbaceous plants native to eastern North America.[1][2] Blephilia are most often found in open areas, glades, and mesic forests. All species of Blephilia are considered threatened or endangered in some states. [3] [4][5][6]
The genus includes only perennial species that spread by both seeds and through stem division. Small white to purple-lavender flowers occur in inflorescences that cluster in the upper leaf axils, often in several circular layers (hence the common name pagoda-plant). Leaves are generally lanceolate to ovate and vary in shades of green. Leaves are either petiolate or subsessile (depending on the species).[5] Like many other members of the subtribe Menthinae, all parts of Blephilia are highly aromatic when crushed and have smells similar to menthol and spearmint.[citation needed]
Species
- Blephilia ciliata (L.) Benth. – downy pagoda-plant – widespread from Texas and Florida north to Quebec and Ontario
- Blephilia hirsuta (Pursh) Benth. – hairy pagoda-plant – widespread from Texas and Georgia north to Quebec and Ontario
- Blephilia subnuda Simmers & Kral – Cumberland pagoda-plant – endemic to northeastern Alabama and southern Tennessee
- Blephilia woffordii Floden - Wofford's pagoda-plant - endemic to central Tennessee
References
- ^ "Blephilia". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021.
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- ^ Simmers, Richard W. & Kral, Robert (1992). "A New Species of Blephilia (Lamiaceae) from Northern Alabama". Rhodora. 94 (877): 1–14. ISSN 0035-4902. JSTOR 23313168
- ^ Floden, Aaron & Schilling, Edward (2020). "A new stenoendemic species of Blephilia (Lamiaceae: Lamioideae; Menthinae) from the Interior Low Plateau of Tennessee". Phytotaxa. 442 (2): 101–110. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.442.2.5