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, and this group is in turn a sister clade to Mentha. The genus name Clinopodium is derived from the Latin clinopodion, from the Ancient Greek (), from () "bed" and () "little foot". These were names for Clinopodium vulgare.Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume I, page 91. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. (set). They allude to the form of the calyx.Paul Victor Fournier. 1946. Les Quatre Flores de France, page 838. Paris: Lechevalier.
Clinopodium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora albitarsella.
Various Clinopodium species are used as medicinal herbs. For example, C. macrostemum is used in Mexico as a tea under the name or to cure hangovers, stomach aches, and liver disease.
Taxonomy Clinopodium has been defined very differently by different authors. Some have restricted it to as few as 13 species, all closely related to the type species, Clinopodium vulgare. In the latest revision of Lamiaceae, Clinopodium encompassed about 100 species, including those otherwise placed in the genera Acinos, Calamintha, Micromeria, Satureja, and Xenopoma. This circumscription, called Clinopodium sensu lato, was shown to be polyphyletic in 2004, with additional information on the issue published in 2010. As currently defined, Clinopodium includes both a core clade of this genus that includes the type species and a sister clade that is a broad assemblage of New World species designated Clinopodium alongside species included in 22 other genera. This "Clinopodium complex" will need a systematic taxonomic and nomenclatural review before valid names can be designated.
Selected species
The genus Clinopodium is considered polyphyletic by modern authors. The cladistic classification below follows the clades outlined in Brauchler, et al (2010) with additional species data from Drew, et al (2017). New World species of Clinopodium that have not been sequenced are assumed to be part of the "New World group".
Clinopodium sensu stricto
Clinopodium sensu lato Clinopodium abyssinicum group
Clinopodium acinos group Allied to Ziziphora.
Clinopodium nepalense group
Clinopodium simense group
New World group Polyphyletic assemblage of New World species assigned to Clinopodium intermixed with species from 22 other named genera (including Conradina, Minthostachys, Monardella, etc).
Unclear affiliation
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