Satureja hortensis L.

Bordbar, Firouzeh & Mirtadzadini, Mansour, 2024, A morphological re-evaluation of the taxonomic status of Satureja L. (Lamiaceae, Nepetoideae, Mentheae) from flora of Iran, Adansonia (3) 46 (7), pp. 45-63 : 52

Satureja hortensis L.

Species Plantarum: 568 ( Linnaeus 1753). — Type: described from S France and Italy (Hb. Linn. 723/9)

Satureja officinarum Crantz, Institutiones Rei Herbariae 1: 526 ( Crantz 1766).

Satureja brachiata Stokes, A Botanical Materia Medica 3: 300 ( Stokes 1812).

Satureja pachyphylla C.Koch , in Linnaea 17: 295 ( Koch 1843). — Clinopodium pachyphyllum (C.Koch) Kuntze, Revisio Generum Plantarum 2: 515 ( Kuntze 1891).

Satureja laxiflora C.Koch , in Linnaea 21: 668 ( Koch 1848).

Satureja hortensis L. var. includens Schur, Enumeratio plantarum Transsilvaniae: 531 ( Schur 1866).

Satureja hortensis L. var. exserens Schur, Enumeratio plantarum Transsilvaniae: 531 ( Schur 1866).

Satureja filicaulis Schott ex Boiss. , Flora Orientalis 4: 562 ( Boissier 1879).

Satureja hortensis L. var. grandiflora Boiss. , Flora Orientalis 4: 562( Boissier 1879). — Clinopodium hortense (L.) Kuntze, Revisio Generum P1antarum 2: 515 ( Kuntze 1891).

Satureja litwinofwii Schmalh. ex Lipsky , Flora Caucasi: 108 ( Lipsky 1899).

Thymus cunila E.H.L.Krause, In Flora von Deutschland ed. 2, 11: 172 ( Krause 1903).

Calamintha hortensis hort. ex F.T.Hubb. , The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture 6: 3082 (Bailey 1917).

Satureja hortensis L. var. speciosa Náb, Iter Turcico-Persicum. 3:44 ( Nábělek 1926).

Satureja hortensis L. var. depauperata Thieb., Flore libano-syrienne 3: 49 ( Thiébaut 1953).

Satureja altaica Boriss. , in Botanicheskie Materialy Gerbariya Botanicheskogo Instituti Imeni V.L. Komarova Akademii Nauk SSSR 15: 326 ( Borissova 1953).

Satureja densiflora Zein. , in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk Azerbaidzhana Seriya Biologicheskikh Nauk 1969 (2):15 ( Zeinalova 1969).

PHENOLOGY. — Flowering July to September, fruiting August to October.

DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY. — Widely cultivated over the country or naturally grows on dry or moist soils of NW of Iran ( Fig. 4B ).

SPECIMENS EXAMINED. — Iran •W Iran, Isfahan Prov., Pol-e Zamankhan ; 03.VII.2004; Mirtadzadini 3806 ( MIR) • Kordestan Prov., Auraman valley, SW of Bölbar village; 35°14’22.5”N, 46°17’30.7”E; alt. 944 m; 04.X.2017; Mirtadzadini 3807 ( MIR) • SW of Auraman valley , Shiradarra area ; 35°13’50.5”N, 46°16’18.5”E; alt. 1645 m; 05.X.2017; Mirtadzadini 3833 ( MIR) • NW Iran, West Azerbaijan Prov., Khoy to Maku ; 28.VIII.2008; Mirtadzadini 3808 ( MIR) (naturally grows) • Ardabil Prov., Givi; 15.X.2007; Mirtadzadini 1958 ( MIR) (naturally grows) . Armenia • S Armenia, Syunik Province, 4 km to Goris from Sisian ; 39°29’16.9”N, 46°17’33.5”E; alt. 1800 m; 06.IX.2019; Mirtadzadini 3809 ( MIR) .

DESCRIPTION

Aromatic, annual, 10-25(-35) cm high, all parts of the plant covered with short simple appressed hairs and sessile glands. Stems erect, covered with short white spreading glandular and eglandular hairs, length of lower internodes 15-35 mm, length of inflorescence internodes 20-40 mm. Leaves linear or linearlanceolate, obtuse, conduplicate, cauline leaves 10-30(-40) mm long, l-4(-5) mm wide, floral leaves similar in shape to the cauline leaves.Verticillasters distant, congested to lax, 2- to 20-flowered, flowers often sessile, peduncle up to 4 mm (if present), pedicel up to 2.5 mm (if present). Calyx green, campanulate, 3-5 mm, teeth narrow linear to subulate, slightly unequal, up to 3 mm. Corolla lilac, pink or white, 5-10 mm, tube included in or somewhat exserted from calyx. Nutlets widely elliptic, brown to dark brown, 1.2-1.3 mm long, c. 1 mm wide.

REMARKS

This species has a typical form with densely flowered verticillasters which is widely cultivated in Iran as a medicinal as well as pot-herb. The second form with lax-flowered verticillasters described as Satureja laxiflora in Flora Iranica ( Rechinger 1982) and Flora of Iran ( Jamzad 2012), naturally grows in NW of Iran.

Figures

FIG. 4. — Distribution map of Satureja L. species in Iran: A, S. bachtiarica Bunge; B, S. avromanica Maroofi (circle), S. hortensis L. (naturally grows) (square); C, S. kermanica Payandeh, Bordbar & Mirtadz. (circle), S. intermedia C.A.Mey. (square); D, S. khuzistanica Jamzad (circle), S. isophylla Rech.f. (square).