Acinos
Encyclopedia
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 akinos, the name of a small aromatic plant. They are small, tufted, bushy or spreading plants growing to 10-45 cm tall. The 2-lipped, tubular flowers are in whorls borne on erect spike-like inflorescence produced in mid-summer.
Selected species
Acinos arvensis is recorded as a food plant for the larva
of the moth
Coleophora tricolor
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of ten species of annual
Annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers, and dies in a year or season. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed...
and short-lived evergreen
Evergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
perennial
Perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
woody
Woody plant
A woody plant is a plant that uses wood as its structural tissue. These are typically perennial plants whose stems and larger roots are reinforced with wood produced adjacent to the vascular tissues. The main stem, larger branches, and roots of these plants are usually covered by a layer of...
plants native to southern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and western Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Its name comes from the Greek word akinos, the name of a small aromatic plant. They are small, tufted, bushy or spreading plants growing to 10-45 cm tall. The 2-lipped, tubular flowers are in whorls borne on erect spike-like inflorescence produced in mid-summer.
Selected species
- Acinos alpinusAcinos alpinusRock thyme is a perennial plant of the Lamiaceae family. Synonyms include Calamintha alpina Lam., Thymus alpinus , and Satureja alpina . There are two subspecies of rock thyme: A. alpinus meriodionalis, with smaller flowers; and A. alpinus majoranifolius, which grows in smaller bunches...
- Acinos arvensisAcinos arvensisAcinos arvensis, also known as the Basil thyme, is a species of plant of the genus Acinos.It is a perennial that usually grows about 8 inches high and spreads 12 inches. It prefers to grow in strong sunlight.The delicate scent of it is faintly reminiscent of thyme, giving it its common name....
- Acinos corsicus
- Acinos rotundifolius
- Acinos suaveolens
Cultivation
Mostly quite frost hardy, they will grow in poor soil as long as it is well drained (they do not like wet conditions) and need full sun. Propagate from seed or cuttings in spring.Acinos arvensis is recorded as a food plant for the larva
Larva
A larva 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...
of the moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
Coleophora tricolor
Coleophora
Coleophora is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions...
.