(Mint Family)
Diagnostic characters
- Habit: Annual herbs or rarely shrubs.
- Roots: Tap root
- Stem: Herbaceous; quadrangular; glandular hairs are present.
- Leaves: Petiolate; opposite and decussate; simple; exstipulate;
- Inflorescence: Verticillaster (opposite axillary cymes)
- Flower: Pedicillate; ebracteate; zygomorphic; complete; hermaphrodite; hypogynous;
- Calyx: 4 or 5 sepals; fused: tubular of funnel shaped, sometimes two lipped or bilabiate.
- Corolla: 4 or 5 petals; gamopetalous; forms two lips (bilabiate), upper lip has two notches and lower lips has three notches.
- Stamens:.4 stamens; didynamous; epipetalous; basifixed.
- Carpel: Bicarpellary; syncarpous; ovary superior; tetralocula due to formation of false septum; placentation aNile.
- Fruits: Carcerulus with persistant calyx.
- Seed: Non-endospermic.
Floral formula and floral diagram
Economic Importance
- Food: Mint is used as salad. Tubers of toe hys are edible.
- Condiments: Mentpa and Oeimum are used as condiments.
- Beverages: Ocimum canum gives mucilaginous seeds. These are
- used in beverages as tukhmalanga .
- Medicinal plants: Many drugs of this family give drugs. Peppermint is obtained from Memha piperata. ()chumn kllimandscharicum contain camphor.
- Perfumes: Many plants contain abundant volatile aromatic oils like thymole, lavender oil and rosemary oil.
- Ornamental plants: Some species of Salvia are cultivated for their beautiful flowers.
Distribution pattern
It is a large family. It has 200 genera and 3000 species. It is distributed all over the world.
Common species
-
Ocimum basilicum
- Mentpa viridis (mint)
-
Lavendula vera (Lavender)
-
Salvia splendens
abida