Monardella
Encyclopedia
Monardella is a genus
of 28 species of annual
and perennial
plants native to western North America
. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for herbal teas. The 2-lipped, tubular flowers are formed in terminal clusters and are most usually red, pink, or purple in color.
Plants in this genus are commonly known as wildmints, coyote mints or monardellas.
or pot in the alpine
house if smaller species are selected. The taller ones can be used at the front of a dry sunny border. They have reasonable frost resistance, but resent dampness in winter. Propagate from seed or summer cuttings of perennial species, or by division of clumps.
Monardella is a foodplant for some Lepidoptera
(butterfly and moth) caterpillar
s. These include the Endangered Myrtle's Silverspot Butterfly
(Speyeria zerene myrtleae).
Several species are rare California
endemics; two, the Merced Monardella (M. leucocephala) and Pringle's Monardella (M. pringlei), have not been seen in many decades and are presumed extinct
.
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 28 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 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...
plants native to western North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for herbal teas. The 2-lipped, tubular flowers are formed in terminal clusters and are most usually red, pink, or purple in color.
Plants in this genus are commonly known as wildmints, coyote mints or monardellas.
Selected species
- Monardella antoninaMonardella antoninaMonardella antonina is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name San Antonio Hills monardella. It is endemic to California, where its two subspecies are restricted to narrow sections of the Central Coast Ranges.-Distribution:The distribution of ssp...
- Monardella arizonicaMonardella arizonicaMonardella arizonica is a plant species endemic to Arizona in the USA. Plants within the genus are commonly known as wildmint, coyote mint or monardella.-Ancient history:...
- Monardella australisMonardella australisMonardella australis is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name southern monardella. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Transverse Ranges and adjacent San Jacinto Mountains near the Los Angeles area...
- Monardella beneolensMonardella beneolensMonardella beneolens is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name sweet-smelling monardella.-Distribution:...
- Monardella breweriMonardella breweriMonardella breweri is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Brewer's monardella.-Distribution:Monardella breweri is endemic to California, where its range extends from the San Francisco Bay Area through the Central Coast Ranges to the Transverse Ranges, including...
- Monardella candicansMonardella candicansMonardella candicans is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Sierra monardella.-Distribution:It is endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, where it grows in several types of local habitat, including chaparral, woodland, and...
- Monardella cinereaMonardella cinereaMonardella cinerea is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name gray monardella. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the San Gabriel Mountains and San Jacinto Mountains in the Los Angeles area, and the central coast Santa Lucia Mountains in the...
- Monardella crispaMonardella crispaMonardella crispa is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name crisp monardella. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the sand dunes on the coastline of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties.-Description:It is an aromatic perennial herb...
– Crisp Monardella - Monardella douglasiiMonardella douglasiiMonardella douglasii is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Douglas' monardella.-Distribution:...
- Monardella follettiiMonardella follettiiMonardella follettii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Follett's monardella.-Distribution:...
- Monardella frutescensMonardella frutescensMonardella frutescens is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name San Luis Obispo monardella.-Distribution:...
- Monardella glaucaMonardella glaucaMonardella glauca is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name pale monardella. It is native to the western United States where it grows in many types of habitat, including in the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada....
- Monardella hypoleucaMonardella hypoleucaMonardella hypoleuca is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name thickleaf monardella. It is native to the southern half of California, where it grows in the coastal hills and mountain ranges in local habitat including chaparral and woodland...
- Monardella lanceolataMonardella lanceolataMonardella lanceolata is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names mustang mint and mustang monardella...
– Mustang Mint - Monardella linoidesMonardella linoidesMonardella linoides is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names flaxleaf monardella and willowy monardella...
- Monardella macranthaMonardella macranthaMonardella macrantha is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name red monardella. It is native to coastal mountain ranges of southern California and Baja California, where it grows in several habitat types, including chaparral, woodlands, and...
- Monardella nanaMonardella nanaMonardella nana is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name yellow monardella. It is native to the Peninsular Ranges of southern California and northern Baja California, where it grows in several local habitat types, such as chaparral and mountain...
- Monardella odoratissimaMonardella odoratissimaMonardella odoratissima is a perennial flowering plant which grows in mountain forests and sagebrush scrub. It is a member of the Lamiaceae, or mint family. It has the minty odor characteristic of this family.-Distribution:Monardella odoratissima is found in montane forests above 600 m...
– Mountain Wildmint, Mountain Coyote Mint or Mountain Pennyroyal - Monardella palmeriMonardella palmeriMonardella palmeri is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Palmer's monardella.-Distribution:Monardella palmeri is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Santa Lucia Mountains of the California Coast Ranges in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties...
- Monardella purpureaMonardella purpureaMonardella purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names Siskiyou monardella and serpentine monardella....
- Monardella robisoniiMonardella robisoniiMonardella robisonii is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Robison's monardella.It is native to California, where it is known only from sky island habitats in the Mojave Desert mountains, including the vicinity of Joshua Tree National Park...
- Monardella sheltoniiMonardella sheltoniiMonardella sheltonii is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Shelton's monardella.It is native to the mountains of northern California and southern Oregon, including the Klamath Mountains and Sierra Nevada, where it grows in chaparral, forest, and other habitat,...
- Monardella siskiyouensisMonardella siskiyouensisMonardella siskiyouensis is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Siskiyou monardella.It is endemic to the southern Klamath Mountains of California, where it grows in chaparral and woodland habitat....
- Monardella stebbinsiiMonardella stebbinsiiMonardella stebbinsii is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common names Feather River monardella and Stebbins' monardella. It is endemic to Plumas County, California, where it is known from only about ten occurrences along the North Fork of the Feather River in the...
- Monardella stoneanaMonardella stoneanaMonardella stoneana is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Jennifer's monardella.This species was named for the plant ecologist Jennifer Stone...
- Monardella thymifolia
- Monardella undulataMonardella undulataMonardella undulata is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name curlyleaf monardella.-Distribution:...
- Monardella villosaMonardella villosaMonardella villosa is a plant in the mint family which is known by the common name coyote mint.This is a perennial wildflower found only in California, except for one subspecies which sometimes occurs in Oregon...
– (Common) Coyote Mint - Monardella viridisMonardella viridisMonardella viridis is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family which is endemic to California.-Distribution:The plant has a disjunct distribution, its two subspecies separated by several hundred miles. The green monardella, ssp. viridis, is limited to the North Coast Ranges north...
Horticulture and ecology
Most like a sunny, sharply drained site and can be attractive in a rock gardenRock Garden
The Rock Garden or Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a Sculpture garden in Chandigarh, India, also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand, a government official who started the garden secretly in his spare time in 1957. Today it is spread over an area of forty-acres , it is...
or pot in the alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
house if smaller species are selected. The taller ones can be used at the front of a dry sunny border. They have reasonable frost resistance, but resent dampness in winter. Propagate from seed or summer cuttings of perennial species, or by division of clumps.
Monardella is a foodplant for 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...
(butterfly and moth) caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s. These include the Endangered Myrtle's Silverspot Butterfly
Myrtle's silverspot butterfly
Myrtle’s silverspot, Speyeria zerene myrtleae, is a medium-sized butterfly in the brush foot family , an endangered subspecies of Zerene fritillary. It is endemic to California, where it is known from only about four locations just north of the San Francisco Bay Area, including two at Point Reyes...
(Speyeria zerene myrtleae).
Several species are rare California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
endemics; two, the Merced Monardella (M. leucocephala) and Pringle's Monardella (M. pringlei), have not been seen in many decades and are presumed extinct
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally 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 recover may have been lost before this point...
.