Plant Name
Scientific Name: Hyptis emoryi
Common Name: Desert Lavender
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial, Semi-deciduous
Growth Habit: Shrub
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert
Flower Color: Lavender to violet
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall
Height: To 15 feet (4.6 m) tall, but usually less
Description: The flowers are clustered in the leaf axils. The individual flowers are small, 2-lipped, and have 5 lobes. The leaves are woolly, grayish green, opposite, and oval in shape. The leaves vary depending on moisture, becoming smaller and grayer in dry conditions.
Special Characteristics
Butterfly Plant – The flowers attract butterflies and bees.
Edible – The leaves are edible and can be used to flavor tea.
Fragrant – The leaves have a strong, pleasant, lavender fragrance when crushed. The flowers have only a faint fragrance of honey.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae – Mint family
Genus: Hyptis Jacq. – bushmint
Species: Hyptis emoryi Torr. – desert lavender
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