''Monardella'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of approximately 40 species of

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

and

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

native to western North America from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

to northwestern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for herbal teas. The two-lipped, tubular flowers are formed in terminal clusters and are most usually red, pink, or purple. ''Monardella'' is a Latin diminutive form of

Monarda ''Monarda'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae.Harley, R. M., et al. 2004. "Labiatae". pp 167-275 In: Kubitzki, K. (editor) and J. W. Kadereit (volume editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VII. ...

(a taxonomic patronym honoring the Spanish botanist

Nicolás Monardes Nicolás Bautista Monardes (1493 – 10 October 1588) was a Spanish physician and botanist. Monardes published several books of varying importance. In ''Diálogo llamado pharmacodilosis'' (1536), he examines humanism and suggests studying se ...

), which the form of the flower heads resembles. Plants in this genus are commonly known as wildmints, coyote mints or monardellas.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepted the following species: * ''

Monardella angustifolia ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for ...

'' Elvin, Ertter & Mansfield * '' Monardella arizonica'' Epling - Arizona * ''

Monardella australis ''Monardella australis'' is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, known by the common name southern monardella. Distribution The plant is endemic to southern California, in the Greater Los Angeles Area. It is known only from populatio ...

'' Abrams - southern California * ''

Monardella beneolens ''Monardella beneolens'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name sweet-smelling monardella. Distribution ''Monardella beneolens'' is endemic to California, where it is known from just a few occurrences in ...

'' Shevock, Ertter & Jokerst - southern California * ''

Monardella boydii ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for ...

'' A.C.Sanders & Elvin - southern California * ''

Monardella breweri ''Monardella breweri'', commonly known as Brewer's monardella, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family. Description ''Monardella breweri'' is a hairy annual herb producing a branching erect stem up to about 65 centimeters in maximum ...

'' A.Gray - California, Nevada, Arizona, Baja California ** ''Monardella breweri'' subsp. ''lanceolata'' (A.Gray) A.C.Sanders & Elvin, syn. ''Monardella lanceolata'' A.Gray - California * ''

Monardella candicans ''Monardella 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, in ...

'' Benth. - San Joaquín Valley of California * ''

Monardella douglasii ''Monardella douglasii'' is a species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Douglas' monardella. Distribution ''Monardella douglasii'' is endemic to northern California, where it is known from several of the Inner South ...

'' Benth. - San Francisco Bay area of California * ''

Monardella eplingii ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used fo ...

'' Elvin et al.Elvin, M. A., et al. (2013)
''Monardella eplingii'', a new species from the Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona, USA.
''Madroño'' 60(1) 46-54. - Arizona * ''

Monardella eremicola ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for ...

'' A.C.Sanders & Elvin - southern California * ''

Monardella exilis ''Monardella exilis'', with the common names Mojave monardella and desert monardella, is an annual plant in the genus ''Monardella'' of the mint family (Lamiaceae). Distribution The plant is endemic to California, in the Mojave Desert and southe ...

'' (A.Gray) Greene - southern California, Arizona * ''

Monardella follettii ''Monardella follettii'' is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mint family known by the common name Follett's monardella. Distribution ''Monardella follettii'' is endemic to California, where it is known from about twenty occurrences ...

'' (Jeps.) Jokerst - northern Sierra Nevada in California * ''

Monardella hypoleuca ''Monardella hypoleuca'' is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, known by the common names thickleaf monardella and white leaf monardella. It is endemic to Southern California, It grows on the coastal hills and slopes of the Peninsu ...

'' A.Gray - southern California, Baja California * ''

Monardella kruckebergii ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for ...

'' Elvin, R.B.Kelley & B.T.Drew * ''

Monardella lagunensis ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for ...

'' M.E.Jones - Baja California Sur * †''

Monardella leucocephala ''Monardella leucocephala'' is a believed-to-be-extinct flowering plant in the genus ''Monardella ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to no ...

'' A.Gray - Merced & Stanislaus counties in California but believed to be extinct * ''

Monardella linoides ''Monardella linoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae known by the common name flaxleaf monardella. It is native to southern California and slightly into adjacent sections of Nevada, Arizona, and Baja California. It gr ...

'' A.Gray - California, Arizona, Nevada, Baja California * ''

Monardella macrantha ''Monardella 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, incl ...

'' A.Gray - California, Baja California * '' Monardella mojavensis'' Elvin & A.C.Sanders - Mohave Desert of southeastern California & southern Nevada * '' Monardella nana'' A.Gray - California, Baja California * ''

Monardella odoratissima ''Monardella odoratissima'' (mountain coyote mint, mountain beebalm, mountain monardella or mountain pennyroyal) is a perennial flowering plant. It is a member of the mint family Lamiaceae. It has the minty odor characteristic of this family. In ...

'' Benth. - mountain wildmint, mountain coyote mint or mountain pennyroyal - much of western North America from British Columbia south to southern California & New Mexico ** ''Monardella odoratissima'' subsp. ''villosa'' (Benth.) Brunell, syns ''Monardella antonina'' Hardham, '' Monardella villosa'' Benth. – (common) coyote mint – California * '' Monardella palmeri'' A.Gray - Santa Lucia Mountains of west-central California *''

Monardella perplexans ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for ...

'' Elvin, R.B.Kelley & B.T.Drew * †''

Monardella pringlei ''Monardella'' is a genus of approximately 40 species of annual plant, annual and perennial plant, perennial plants native to western North America from British Columbia to northwestern Mexico. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, wh ...

'' A.Gray - Mohave Desert of southeastern California but believed to be extinct * '' Monardella purpurea'' Howell - Oregon, California * '' Monardella robisonii'' Epling ex Munz - Mohave Desert of southeastern California * '' Monardella saxicola'' I.M.Johnst. - southeastern California * '' Monardella sheltonii'' Torr. ex Durand - Oregon, California * '' Monardella sinuata'' Elvin & A.C.Sanders - coastal central California * '' Monardella siskiyouensis'' Hardham - northern California * '' Monardella stebbinsii'' Hardham & Bartel - Plumas County in northern California * '' Monardella stoneana'' Elvin & A.C.Sanders - San Diego County in California, Baja California * ''Monardella'' × ''subglabra'' (Hoover) Hardham - California (''M. purpurea'' × ''M. villosa'') * '' Monardella subserrata'' Greene * '' Monardella thymifolia'' Greene - Cedros Island in Baja California * '' Monardella undulata'' Benth. - coastal central California * '' Monardella venosa'' (Torr.) A.C.Sanders & Elvin - central California * '' Monardella viminea'' Greene - San Diego County in southern California * '' Monardella viridis'' Jeps. - northern San Francisco Bay area of California (Sonoma, Napa, Solano, & Lake Counties) * '' Monardella walwaamaxsia'' Elvin, R.B.Kelley & B.T.Drew

Horticulture and ecology

Most like a sunny, sharply drained site and can be attractive in a

rock garden A rock garden, also known as a rockery and formerly as a rockwork, is a garden, or more often a part of a garden, with a landscaping framework of rocks, stones, and gravel, with planting appropriate to this setting. Usually these are small ...

or pot in the

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

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 nectar plant for many

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

(butterflies and moths), including the

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

Myrtle's silverspot (''Speyeria zerene myrtleae''). Several species are rare

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

endemics Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

; two, the Merced monardella (''M. leucocephala'') and Pringle's monardella (''M. pringlei''), have not been seen in many decades and are presumed

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

.Jepson Manual Treatment: ''M. pringlei''
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile: ''Monardella''

Calflora Database: ''Monardella''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5223309 Lamiaceae genera Flora of Northern America Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus