Clinopodium is a genus

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 flowering plant

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

s in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Lamiaceae

Lamiaceae

The mints, taxonomically known as Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are a family of flowering plants. They have traditionally been considered closely related to Verbenaceae, but in the 1990s, phylogenetic studies suggested that many genera classified in Verbenaceae belong instead in Lamiaceae...

. It is in the tribe

Tribe (biology)

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

 Mentheae of the subfamily Nepetoideae, but little else can be said with certainty about its phylogenetic position

Phylogenetic tree

A phylogenetic tree or evolutionary tree is a branching diagram or "tree" showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species or other entities based upon similarities and differences in their physical and/or genetic characteristics...

.

The genus name

Binomial nomenclature

Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...

 Clinopodium is derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 clinopodion or the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 klinopodion. These were names for Clinopodium vulgare. The Greek klino means "a bed" and the Greek podion means "a little foot".

Clinopodium species are used as food plants by 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...

e of some Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...

 species including Coleophora albitarsella

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...

.

Various Clinopodium species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are used as medicinal herbs

Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...

. For example C. laevigatum is used in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 as a tea under the name "Poleo" or "yerba de Borracho" to cure hangovers, stomach aches, and liver disease.

Selected species

• Clinopodium arkansanum- Limestone Calamint
• Clinopodium ascendens- Ascending Wild Basil
• Clinopodium ashei- Ashe's Calamint
• Clinopodium brownei
  Clinopodium brownei
  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....
  
  - Browne's Savory
• Clinopodium chandleri
  Clinopodium chandleri
  Clinopodium chandleri is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name San Miguel savory. It is native to northern Baja California and several areas of southern California, where it can be found in mountain chaparral. It is a small shrub with slender branches up...
  
  - San Miguel Calamint
• Clinopodium coccineum- Scarlet Calamint
• Clinopodium dentatum- Florida Calamint
• Clinopodium douglasii- Yerba Buena
• Clinopodium georgianum- Georgia Calamint
• Clinopodium glabellum- Ozark Calamint
• Clinopodium gracile- Slender Wild Basil
• Clinopodium laevgatum - Poleo or Yerba de Borracho
• Clinopodium mimuloides
  Clinopodium mimuloides
  Clinopodium is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name monkeyflower savory. It is endemic to California, where it can be found in the mountain ranges of the Central Coast and Los Angeles area...
  
  - Monkeyflower Savory
• Clinopodium vulgare- Wild Basil

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

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

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

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 akinos, the name of a small aromatic plant. They are small, tufted, bushy or spreading plants growing to 10-45 cm tall...

, Calamintha

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 which is native to the northern temperate regions of Europe, Asia and America.Calamintha species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera...

, and Xenopoma

Xenopoma

Xenopoma is a genus of land snails with an operculum, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the family Pomatiidae.- Species :Species within the genus Xenopoma include:* Xenopoma aguayoi Torre & Bartsch, 1941...

. This circumscription

Circumscription (taxonomy)

In taxonomy, circumscription is the definition of the limits of a taxonomic group of organisms. One goal of taxonomy is to achieve a stable circumscription for every taxonomic group. Achieving stability can be simple or difficult....

, called Clinopodium sensu lato, was shown to be polyphyletic in 2004.