Lesser calamint

Clinopodium nepeta, the lesser calamint, is an aromatic perennial herb of the Lamiaceae family native to southern and central Europe, North Africa, and western Asia. It forms a compact mound 30 to 50 cm tall, with slender, branching, four-angled stems that are downy and often woody at the base. The opposite leaves are small, ovate, shallowly toothed, and dotted with oil glands that yield a sharp, mint-and-oregano fragrance when bruised. Loose axillary cymes of small two-lipped flowers, pale lilac to white with darker spotting on the lower lip, appear through summer into early autumn and are much visited by bees. The plant favours dry, calcareous soils on rocky banks, walls, and open scrub.