Aloysia Explained
Aloysia is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are known generally as beebrushes.[1] They are native to the Americas, where they are distributed in temperate climates, as well as in subtropical and desert climates.[2] The genus is named for Maria Luisa of Parma (1751-1819), wife of King Charles IV of Spain.[3]
Description
These plants are subshrubs, shrubs, or trees growing 0.5 meters to 15 meters tall.[2] Many are very aromatic.[3] The stems may be four-angled and smooth when new, becoming more angular or rounded and often furrowed or striated with age. The leaves are evergreen or deciduous in the dry season. They are often oppositely arranged or whorled, but can be alternate or clustered. The blades are variable in shape, toothed or smooth-edged, and hairless to rough-haired on the upper surfaces. The undersides may have glandular hairs. The inflorescence is usually a raceme of widely spaced clusters of 3 to 6 flowers each. There are leaflike bracts under the flowers which can be showy in some species. The calyx of sepals has 2 or 4 lobes and is persistent, enclosing the fruit as it develops. The flower corolla is tubular with a wider mouth divided into four lobes, one of which may be cleft. The corolla can be white, purplish, blue, or pink. The narrow style is tipped with a bilobed stigma and there are 4 stamens. The fruit is a schizocarp.[2]
Species
The following 41 species are recognised in the genus Aloysia:
- Aloysia arequipensis
- Aloysia barbata
- Aloysia brasiliensis
- Aloysia castellanosii
- Aloysia catamarcensis
- Aloysia chamaedryfolia
- Aloysia chiapensis
- Aloysia citrodora - lemon verbena, lemon beebrush
- Aloysia coalcomana
- Aloysia cordata
- Aloysia crenata
- Aloysia decipiens
- Aloysia densispicata
- Aloysia deserticola
- Aloysia dusenii
- Aloysia fiebrigii
- Aloysia gentryi
- Aloysia gratissima - common beebrush, whitebrush, whitebush[4]
- Aloysia hatschbachii
- Aloysia herrerae
- Aloysia macrostachya - Rio Grande beebrush
- Aloysia nahuire
- Aloysia oblanceolata
- Aloysia ovatifolia
- Aloysia peruviana
- Aloysia polygalifolia
- Aloysia polystachya - burro, burrito
- Aloysia pulchra
- Aloysia riojana
- Aloysia salsoloides
- Aloysia salviifolia
- Aloysia schulziana
- Aloysia scorodonioides
- Aloysia sonorensis
- Aloysia spathulata
- Aloysia tarapacana
- Aloysia trifida
- Aloysia unifacialis
- Aloysia velutina
- Aloysia virgata
- Aloysia wrightii - mintbush lippia, Wright's beebrush
Formerly placed here
- Mulguraea ligustrina (as A. ligustrina (Lag.) Small)[5]
Notes and References
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=32131 Aloysia.
- Siedo, S. J. (2012). Four new species of the genus Aloysia (Verbenaceae). Lundellia 15, 35-46.
- http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=9596 Aloysia.
- Soule, J. A. Butterfly Gardening In Southern Arizona. Tierra del Sol Press, Tucson, Arizona. 2012.
- https://archive.today/20121212101541/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?447 GRIN Species Records of Aloysia.
