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Clinopodium menthifolium
Wood calamint is a tufted, mint-scented perennial herb or subshrub from southern and central Europe and North Africa, grown mainly for its aromatic leaves and as a pollinator-friendly garden plant. It is an easy, hardy plant that does best in well-drained, lime-rich soil in sun or light shade.
Clinopodium menthifolium, commonly known as the wood calamint or woodland calamint, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is found throughout southern and central Europe from the United Kingdom and east as far as temperate parts of Asia, and as south as North Africa. It grows up to 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in elevation.
The three subspecies of C. menthifolium have been previously considered separate species, including C. m. subsp. ascendens (syn. C. ascendens), the common calamint or ascending wild basil, and C. m. subsp. hirtum (C. hirtum).
Wood calamint is native to Western Europe and North Africa. Its range extends from France and Germany south to Spain and Algeria, and it also known from Northern Syria. In Britain, it is limited to a single site in the Isle of Wight, where it grows in ancient deciduous woodland on a chalk soil. It has been introduced into the United States where it has become naturalised in California and Virginia.
The leaves of wood calamint can be infused to make an aromatic herb tea. They can also be added to cooked foods, imparting a pungent, aromatic flavour that has been described as being a combination of the flavours imparted by marjoram and mint. The plant is also used as an ornamental for garden cultivation, and will attract butterflies and bees.
Basil thyme · Rock Thyme · Limestone calamint · Ashe's calamint · Browne's savory · San Miguel calamint · Chilean Calamint · Scarlet calamint · Florida calamint · Clinopodium fasciculatum · Clinopodium gilliesii · Ozark calamint
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Clinopodium menthifolium by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
