Hyssopus (plant)

Hyssop
Inflorescence
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Subfamily: Nepetoideae
Tribe: Mentheae
Genus: Hyssopus
L., 1753
1885 illustration of H. officinalis[1]

Hyssopus (hyssop) is a genus of herbaceous or semi-woody plants in the family Lamiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to central Asia as far east as Mongolia.[2][3] They are aromatic, with erect branched stems up to 60 cm long covered with fine hairs at the tips. The leaves are narrow oblong, 2–5 cm long. The small blue flowers are borne on the upper part of the branches during summer. By far the best-known species is the herb hyssop (H. officinalis), widely cultivated outside its native area in the Mediterranean.

Though commonly called "hyssop", anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum; also called blue giant hyssop) and all Agastache species are not members of Hyssopus. However, both genera are in the mint family.

Species[2]
  1. Hyssopus ambiguus (Trautv.) Iljin ex Prochorov. & Lebel - Altai Republic of Russia, Kazakhstan
  2. Hyssopus cuspidatus Boriss. - Altai Republic, Kazakhstan, Xinjiang, Mongolia
  3. Hyssopus latilabiatus C.Y.Wu & H.W.Li - Xinjiang
  4. Hyssopus macranthus Boriss. - Altai Republic of Russia, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan
  5. Hyssopus officinalis L. - central + southern Europe, Algeria, Morocco, east to Iran
  6. Hyssopus seravschanicus (Dub.) Pazij - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
  7. Hyssopus subulifolius (Rech.f.) Rech.f. - Afghanistan.
  1. ^ Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé, Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
  2. ^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  3. ^ "Spotlight on Hyssop". Retrieved 2008-09-16.