Labiatae
Infl. of axillary bracted cymes, often reduced to whorls, or fls occ. solitary. Fls perfect, 5-merous, irregular to regular. Calyx us. 5-lobed, occ. 2-lipped. Corolla 2-lipped; lower 3-lobed, upper 2-lobed. Stamens 2 or 4, epipetalous, us. didynamous; disk often present. Ovary superior, 4-lobed; carpels 2, with basal placentae. Ovules 4, anatropous; style 1, gynobasic, unequally 2-branched. Fr. us. of 4 nutlets invested by persistent calyx. Herbs, shrubs, lianes and some trees with us. 4-angled branchlets and opp. or whorled aromatic exstipulate lvs. Subcosmopolitan family of some 200 genera and over 3,000 spp.
