Teucrium

Teucrium is a genus of mostly perennial plants in the family Lamiaceae. Some of the New World species are annuals.[2] The name is believed to refer to King Teucer of Troy.[3] Members of the genus are commonly known as germanders.[4] There are hundreds of species, including herbs, shrubs or subshrubs. They are found all over the world but are most common in Mediterranean climates.[1][5][6][7]

Germanders
Teucrium fruticans
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Subfamily: Ajugoideae
Genus: Teucrium
L. (1753)
Type species
Teucrium fruticans
L.
Synonyms[1]
  • Chamaedrys Mill.
  • Polium Mill.
  • Scordium Mill.
  • Scorodonia Hill
  • Iva Fabr. 1759 not L. 1753
  • Melosmon Raf.
  • Monipsis Raf.
  • Scorbion Raf.
  • Trixago Raf.
  • Poliodendron Webb & Berthel.
  • Monochilon Dulac
  • Botrys Fourr.
  • Kinostemon Kudô

An unusual feature of this genus compared with other members of Lamiaceae is that the flowers completely lack the upper lip of the corolla, although it is somewhat reduced also in other genera (Ajuga among them).

Several species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Coleophora case-bearers Coleophora auricella and Coleophora chamaedriella. The latter is only known from T. chamaedrys (wall germander).

Teucrium species are rich in essential oils. Some (notably Teucrium fruticans) are valued as ornamental plants and as a pollen source, and some species have culinary and/or medical value.

Fossil record

†Teucrium tatjanae seed fossils are known from the Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene of western Siberia, Miocene and Pliocene of central and southern Russia and Miocene of Lusatia. The fossil seeds are similar to seeds of the extant Teucrium orientale.[8] †Teucrium pripiatense seed fossils have been described from the Pliocene Borsoni Formation in the Rhön Mountains of cental Germany.[9]

Selected species
Teucrium capitatum
Mountain germander
  • Teucrium grandiusculum
  • Teucrium heterophyllum
  • Teucrium japonicum
  • Teucrium laciniatum – Lacy germander
  • Teucrium lepicephalum Pau
  • Teucrium marum L. – Cat thyme
  • Teucrium massiliense L.
  • Teucrium montanum L.
  • Teucrium oliverianum Ging. ex Benth.
  • Teucrium orientale L. – Oriental germander
  • Teucrium polium L. – Felty germander
  • †Teucrium pripiatense (Dorof.) Wieleczk. & Zastawniak
  • Teucrium pseudochamaepitys L.
  • Teucrium puechiae Greuter & Burdet
  • Teucrium pyrenaicum
  • Teucrium racemosum – Grey germander, forest germander
  • Teucrium scordium L. – Water germander
  • Teucrium scorodonia L. – Woodland germander
  • Teucrium socotranum Vierh.
  • Teucrium subspinosum Pourr. ex Willd.
  • †Teucrium tatjanae Nikit.
  • Teucrium townsendii
    • Teucrium townsendii ssp. affine
    • Teucrium townsendii var. townsendii
  • Teucrium vesicarium Mill.
  • Teucrium viscidum Blume
  • Teucrium werneri – Jbel Kest germander[10][11]

Formerly placed here

References
  1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. http://calflora.org/cgi-bin/specieslist.cgi?countylist=any&namesoup=teucrium&plantcomm=any&format=photos&orderby=taxon
  3. Grieve, Maude (1971). A Modern Herbal. Courier Dover Publications. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-486-22798-6.
  4. "Teucrium". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
  5. Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 56 香科科属 xiang ke ke shu Teucrium Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 562. 1753.
  6. Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Teucrium includes photos plus range maps for Europe + North America
  7. Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps
  8. The Pliocene flora of Kholmech, south-eastern Belarus and its correlation with other Pliocene floras of Europe by Felix Yu. VELICHKEVICH and Ewa ZASTAWNIAK - Acta Palaeobot. 43(2): 137–259, 2003
  9. The floral change in the tertiary of the Rhön mountains (Germany) by Dieter Hans Mai - Acta Paleobotanica 47(1): 135-143, 2007.
  10. "Teucrium". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  11. "GRIN Species Records of Teucrium". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2012-02-06.


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