7212.000 Teucrium L.

Perennial herbs with few stems arising from a woody rhizome. Leaves opposite, decussate. Inflorescence terminal, thyrsoid with cymes opposite and arranged in a raceme-like manner. Flowers non-resupinate. Calyx green, campanulate, 5-lobed, persistent and slightly accrescent in fruit; corolla white, tube short, split dorsally to near base of tube giving a 1-lipped appearance; lobes 5, all on anterior side, with the anterior lobe longer than the others. Ovary hairy, Fruit 4-lobed eventually splitting into 4 dry reticulate mericarps each containing a seed; mericarps conspicuously scarred with an areole where previously fused, pubescent at apex. Seeds albuminous. .

Worldwide: About 300 species mainly in temperate areas

Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon.