A small, woody, globular perennial mint from Central Asia, known for its traditional use in a mildly intoxicating tea. It is a dryland steppe plant best grown in full sun with excellent drainage.
Family
Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Grows as
Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water sparingly and let the soil dry out between waterings; avoid waterlogging.
Soil
Free-draining, gritty or sandy soil with low fertility.
Temperature
10–35 °C; hardy to about -15 °C in dry conditions.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
C. Asia
Climate
temperate
About
Lagochilus inebrians, known in English as inebriating mint, intoxicating mint, or Turkistan mint, and in its native Uzbekistan by the Uzbek name Bozulbang, is a member of the mint family, Lamiaceae. The genus name Lagochilus is derived from the Greek elements λαγός (lagos) "hare" and χείλος (ch(e)ilos) "lip" (in reference to the distinctive shape of the corolla), while the Latin specific name inebrians signifies "intoxicating" — in reference to the use of the plant (in its native Central Asia) to prepare a mildly intoxicating tea (see below).
Lagochilus inebrians is widely distributed in the Samarkand and Bukhara provinces of Uzbekistan. It is also found in some areas of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. It grows on the piedmont plains and low foothills, dried up streams and rubbly slopes, on scree and gravel, and in dry grassy-sagebrush and grassland steppes.
Safety
Dried material of L. inebrians harvested in the traditional manner described above and subsequently offered for sale in trade, contains the diterpene lagochilin, essential oils, tannins, organic acids, carotene, ascorbic acid, calcium, iron, and other compounds.
Uses
In the ethnobotany of Central Asia, L. inebrians features as the source of a mildly psychoactive tea with tranquillising effects, used for recreational purposes and also in the folk medicine of the region as a styptic.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Lagochilus inebrians 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.