''Monardella villosa'' is a plant in the

mint family The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a 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, mint, rosemary, sage, sav ...

which is known by the common name coyote mint. In 2020, it was included in ''

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 ...

''. , acceptance of the inclusion varies. When separated from ''Monardella odoratissima'', it is a perennial wildflower found only in California, except for one subspecies which sometimes occurs in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It grows in

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 of the

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

in the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...

and

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

foothills.

Description

When separated from ''Monardella odoratissima'', ''Monardella villosa'' is described as forming a small bush or matted

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows low over an area of ground, which protects the topsoil from erosion and drought. In a terrestrial ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as the ...

tangle of hairy mint-scented foliage. It produces rounded

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s of small, thready, bright lavender or pink flowers. It is a perennial subshrub and flowers from May to August.

Taxonomy

''Monardella villosa'' was first described by

George Bentham George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

in 1844. A 2009 review of the genus ''Monardella'' described ''Monardella villosa'' as a "complex species", dividing it into three subspecies, each synonymized with taxa that had been described as separate ''Monardella'' species. Studies in preparation for new editions of the

Flora of North America The ''Flora of North America North of Mexico'' (usually referred to as ''FNA'') is a multivolume work describing the native plants and naturalized plants of North America, including the United States, Canada, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Greenla ...

and The Jepson Manual showed that there was "continuous variation" between ''

'' and ''M. villosa''. Characters that had been used to separate the two species varied with location, elevation and soil type. Plants traditionally placed in ''M. villosa'' occurred at lower elevations, those placed in ''M. odoratissima'' at higher elevations, but there was a wide zone in which the intermediates were found, particularly at middle elevations. Accordingly, the two species were combined under the older name ''Monardella odoratissima''. Former subspecies of ''M. villosa'' were given new names in ''M. odoratissima''. ,

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 placement of ''M. villosa'' within ''M. odoratissima''. Older sources, such as the 2012

Jepson Manual ''The Jepson Manual'' is a flora of the vascular plants that are either native to or naturalized in California. Botanists often refer to the book simply as ''Jepson''. It is produced by the University and Jepson Herbaria, of the University of Cal ...

, retain ''M. villosa'' as a separate species.

Subspecies

Three subspecies of ''Monardella villosa'' were accepted in 2009 and given names in ''Monardella odoratissima'' in 2020: * ''Monardella villosa'' ssp. ''franciscana'', synonym of ''Monardella odoratissima'' subsp. ''franciscana'' (Elmer) Brunell * ''Monardella villosa'' ssp. ''obispoensis'', synonym of ''Monardella odoratissima'' subsp. ''obispoensis'' (Hoover) Brunell * ''Monardella villosa'' ssp. ''villosa'', synonym of ''Monardella odoratissima'' subsp. ''villosa'' (Benth.) Brunell

Uses

The flowers are attractive to butterflies, with the nectar providing a food source for them. This plant was used by the

indigenous peoples of California Indigenous peoples of California, commonly known as Indigenous Californians or Native Californians, are a diverse group of nations and peoples that are indigenous to the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and afte ...

as a remedy for stomach upset, respiratory conditions, and sore throat. It may also be steeped into a bitter mint

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

Cultivation

''Monardella villosa'' is cultivated by specialty

plant nurseries A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

and available as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

for

native plant 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 popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

drought tolerant In botany, drought tolerance is the ability by which a plant maintains its biomass production during arid or drought conditions. Some plants are naturally adapted to dry conditions'','' surviving with protection mechanisms such as desiccation tole ...

natural landscape A natural landscape is the original landscape that exists before it is acted upon by human culture. The natural landscape and the cultural landscape are separate parts of the landscape. However, in the 21st century, landscapes that are totally ...

, and

habitat garden A wildlife garden (or habitat garden or backyard restoration) is an environment created with the purpose to serve as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plan ...

s; and for

ecological restoration Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair ...

projects.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Monardella villosa'' (Coyote mint)

Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Monardella villosa''

USDA Plants Profile for ''Monardella villosa'' (coyote mint)

University of Michigan: Ethnobotany of ''Monardella villosa''

UC Photos gallery — ''Monardella villosa''

villosa ''Villosa'' is a genus of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs in the family Unionidae. Species Species within the genus ''Villosa'': * '' Villosa amygdala'' * '' Villosa arkansasensis'' - Ouachita creekshell * '' Villosa choctawensi ...

Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Garden plants of North America Butterfly food plants Drought-tolerant plants Groundcovers Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Lamiaceae-stub