Ballota L.
Perennial herbs or subshrubs with ± erect stems. Lvs simple, toothed. Verticels few- to many-flowered, axillary. Bracts similar to lvs. Bracteoles present. Calyx tube not gibbous at base, funnelform, 10-nerved; limb 5-16-toothed, sometimes broad and undulate; calyx teeth acute to aristate. Corolla tube < or = calyx, with ring of hairs inside; upper lip arched to concave, densely hairy; lower lip with 3 spreading lobes. Stamens parallel, lying beneath corolla upper lip, the outer pair longest; anther cells diverging. Style gynobasic, its branches subequal. Nutlets oblong; apex rounded.
c. 30 spp., especially in the Mediterranean but extending to the N. and E. Naturalised sp. 1.
