Calamintha nepeta (L.) Savi subsp. nepeta

Spice Detail In the field

Family: LABIATAE (LAMIACEAE)

Genus: Calamintha

Sinònims: Calamintha sylvatica Bromf. subsp. ascendens (Jord.) P.W. Ball Satureja calamintha (L.) Scheele subsp ascendens (Jord.) Briq.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Lleida. Tarragona.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): Mediterranean

Uses and properties: Aromatic.

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Chameophyte.

Habitats: Oakforest. Non-saline wetlands (intermittent watercourses, streams, artesian wells, ditches). Torrents and forests.

Characteristics: A greatly branched plant, with quite long, herbaceous branches, but with a woody base. The leaves, more than one centimetre long, are oval with a weakly dentate margin. The flowers form a group in the axils of the top leaves; they are violet or purple with a long tube which juts out of the calyx. The calyx has two basal teeth that are longer than the rest, this feature differenciates it from Calamintha nepeta, whose calyx teeth are equal or almost equal, moreover the corolla is more than one centimetre long whereas Calamintha nepeta has a smaller corolla. It lives in moist forest places. It flowers in summer and in autumn.