Perennial to 8 dm; stems pubescent; lvs petioled, ovate-oblong to deltoid-ovate; cymules axillary, or by reduction of the upper lvs tending to form a panicle, each cymule peduncled and branched; cal 2-lipped, 4-6 mm; cor pale purple or nearly white, 9-12 mm; style-branches short, unequal, as in no. 3 [Satureja vulgaris (L.) Fritsch]; 2n mostly = 24. Native of Europe, intr. in our range from Md. and Ky. s. June-Sept. Highly variable, and divided by European botanists into an indefinite number of infraspecific taxa or segregate spp. (Clinopodium nepeta; Calamintha nepeta)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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