Clinopodium vulgare Linnaeus. Common name: Wild Basil. Phenology: Jul-Sep. Habitat: Pastures, roadbanks, forests, thin soils around rock outcrops. Distribution: NL (Newfoundland) to MB, south to NC, sc. TN, and KS; widespread in Europe; scattered in w. North America, apparently as an introduction. Plants in our area reflect both native and introduced genotypes.
Origin/Endemic status: Native
Synonymy ⓘ: = Fl6, Il, K4, Mi, NE, NY, Pa, S, Va, Cantino & Wagstaff (1998), Shinners (1962a); = Satureja vulgaris (L.) Fritsch — C, G, RAB, Tn, W; > Clinopodium vulgare L. var. neogaea (Fernald) C.F.Reed; > Satureja vulgaris (L.) Fritsch var. diminuta (Simon) Fernald & Wiegand — F; > Satureja vulgaris (L.) Fritsch var. neogaea Fernald — F, Tat; > Satureja vulgaris (L.) Fritsch var. vulgaris — F. Basionym: Clinopodium vulgare L. 1753
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Heliophily ⓘ: 8
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© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Alan M. Cressler | Original Image ⭷
© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷
© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
© Erik Danielson source | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
Intro: Erect-ascending perennial from short stolons or creeping rhizomes, found in pastures and forests, and on road banks and thin soils around rock outcrops.
Stems: Stems 4-angled but rounded on angles, simple or branched, densely hairy.
Leaves: Leaves opposite, petiolate, oval or lance-shaped, 3/4-2 1/2 in. long, entire or shallowly toothed, with prominent pinnate venation and finely hairy on both surfaces; faintly aromatic when crushed.
Inforescence:
Flowers: Flowers in dense, hemispheric clusters whorled around upper leaf axils and the top of the stem, typically with a few blossoms open in a cluster at one time; pink (purple or white), 1/2 in. long, bilaterally symmestric, the corolla tubular and split into 2 lips: the upper one 2-lobed and the lower 3-lobed with the center lobe largest and somewhat ruffled. A very hairy, tubular calyx has narrow "teeth" and persists in fruit.
Fruits:
Comments:
Height: 8-20 in.
plant sale text:
bloom table text:
description: Erect-ascending perennial from short stolons or creeping rhizomes, found in pastures and forests, and on road banks and thin soils around rock outcrops.
stems: Stems 4-angled but rounded on angles, simple or branched, densely hairy.
leaves: Leaves opposite, petiolate, oval or lance-shaped, 3/4-2 1/2 in. long, entire or shallowly toothed, with prominent pinnate venation and finely hairy on both surfaces; faintly aromatic when crushed.
inflorescence:
flowers: Flowers in dense, hemispheric clusters whorled around upper leaf axils and the top of the stem, typically with a few blossoms open in a cluster at one time; pink (purple or white), 1/2 in. long, bilaterally symmestric, the corolla tubular and split into 2 lips: the upper one 2-lobed and the lower 3-lobed with the center lobe largest and somewhat ruffled. A very hairy, tubular calyx has narrow "teeth" and persists in fruit.
fruits:
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cultural notes:
germination code:
native range: North America to Europe & Asia
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