''Conradina'' 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 ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

s in the mint family,

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle, or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil (herb), ba ...

.Raymond M. Harley, Sandy Atkins, Andrey L. Budantsev, Philip D. Cantino, Barry J. Conn, Renée J. Grayer, Madeline M. Harley, Rogier P.J. de Kok, Tatyana V. Krestovskaja, Ramón Morales, Alan J. Paton, and P. Olof Ryding. 2004. "Labiatae" pages 167-275. In: Klaus Kubitzki (editor) and Joachim W. Kadereit (volume editor). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' volume VII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. Its

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

is false rosemary, or rarely, short leaf rosemary. There are 7

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of ''Conradina'', all

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to the southeastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.Christine E. Edwards, Walter S. Judd, Gretchen M. Ionta, and Brenda Herring. 2009. "Using Population Genetic Data as a Tool to Identify New Species: ''Conradina cygniflora'' (Lamiaceae), a New, Endangered Species from Florida". ''Systematic Botany'' 34(4):747-759. ''Conradina verticillata'' grows on the

Cumberland Plateau The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains of the United States. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and portions of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia. The terms " Al ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

.Alan S. Weakley. "Conradina" pages 745-746. In: ''Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia'' (title varying with update). (see External links below). The other five grow mainly in Florida. All of the species are closely related and there is some doubt about whether they are all separate. Most species occupy

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (Ancient Greek 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habita ...

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s with well-drained

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s composed of white

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

. The genus ''Conradina'' was established by

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botany, botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' (1876) was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessaril ...

in 1870.Asa Gray. 1870. ''Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences'' 8:294. It was named for the American botanist Solomon White Conrad.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. ''CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names'' volume I. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. (vol. I). (see ''External links'' below). False rosemary is adapted to

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s and open, scrubby areas. It is a woody

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 ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

, often with masses of white to lavender blooms in the early spring or fall. These blooms attract several species of

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s. ''Conradina'' often has a scrubby appearance; however some plants seem to have a denser habitus. ''Conradina'' is found growing in association with sand pines and

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

s, and may be a

pioneer species Pioneer species are resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments, or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse steady-state ecosystems as part of ecological succession. Various kinds of events can create good conditions for pi ...

in disturbed areas.

Terpenes Terpenes () are a class of natural products consisting of compounds with the formula (C5H8)n for n ≥ 2. Terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks. Comprising more than 30,000 compounds, these unsaturated hydrocarbons are produced predomi ...

released from false rosemary are

allelopathic Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms. These biochemicals are known as allelochemicals and can have ben ...

, and suppresses the growth of

grasses Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

. This is thought to help prevent

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

. The plants are commonly up to in height. False rosemary has been suggested as a

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

plant for

xeriscaping Xeriscaping is the process of Garden design, landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acce ...

because it is drought tolerant and grows well with little water, even in poor soils. False rosemary has flowers and scent similar to those of ''

Rosmarinus officinalis ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

''. Until recently, limited scientific study had been published on

culinary Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

medicinal Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

or other properties of ''Conradina'', but it has been shown to be a potential source for numerous

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the ...

s and other compounds.Brian P. Quinn, Ulrich R. Bernier, and Matthew M. Booth. 2007. "Identification of compounds from Etonia rosemary (Conradina etonia)". ''Journal of Chromatography A'' 1160(2007):306–310. (see ''External links'' below). Apart from '' Conradina verticillata'', which is a

triploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two paired sets of ( homologous) chromosomes. Most species whose cells have nuclei (eukaryotes) are diploid, meaning they have two complete sets of chromosomes, one fro ...

,USFWS
''Conradina verticillata'' (Cumberland Rosemary) determined to be threatened.
''Federal Register'' November 29, 1991. all of the species of ''Conradina'' are

diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

and have a

haploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell (biology), cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for Autosome, autosomal and Pseudoautosomal region, pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the num ...

chromosome number Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Here ''sets of chromosomes'' refers to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, ...

of 12. ''Conradina'' has been the subject of genetic research.Home Page of Christine E. Edwards. (see ''External links'' below).

Species

Affinities

''Conradina'' is one of the southeastern scrub mints. This group consists of ''

Dicerandra ''Dicerandra'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family. ''Dicerandra'' comprises 11 species: six perennial and five annual species. The perennials have narrow ranges in Central Florida with small population sizes and only occur on anci ...

'', ''

Stachydeoma ''Stachydeoma'', common name mock pennyroyal, is a genus of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, first described as a genus in 1903. It contains only one known species, ''Stachydeoma graveolens'', endemic to the state of Florida in the United ...

'', '' Piloblephis'', ''Conradina'', and four species of the

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

genus ''

Clinopodium ''Clinopodium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, in the subtribe Menthinae. ''Clinopodium'' belongs to a large and complex group of genera including many New World mints such as ''Hedeoma'', ''Monarda'', and ''Pycnanthemum ...

'' that will eventually be transferred out of that genus. All are

s except ''Dicerandra''. They are

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

to the southeastern

. ''Conradina'' is distinguished from the others by a sharply bent corolla tube.Christine E. Edwards, David Lefkowitz, Douglas E. Soltis, and Pamela S. Soltis. 2008. "Phylogeny of ''Conradina'' and related southeastern scrub mints (Lamiaceae) based on GapC Gene Sequences". ''International Journal of Plant Sciences'' 169(4):579-594.

References

Sources

* (1) FNAI. 2000. ''Field Guide to the Rare Plants and Animals of Florida online''. Florida Natural Areas Inventory. * (2) Godfrey, R. K. 1988. ''Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of northern Florida and adjacent Georgia and Alabama''. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.

External links

Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia

''Conradina''
In
Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
At
Biodiversity Heritage Library

CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: A-C
At
Botany & Plant Science
At
Life Science
At
CRC Press

Compounda from ''Conradina etonia''

Homepage of Christine E. Edwards

U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Database

Florida Plant Atlas

Center for Plant Conservation National; Collection of Imperiled Plants
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3776340 Lamiaceae genera Flora of the Southeastern United States Taxa named by Asa Gray