Lippia alba (Miller) N.E.Brown ex Britton & P.Wilson (1925: 141)

Cardoso, Pedro Henrique, Valério, Vanessa Imaculada Dos Reis, Neto, Luiz Menini & Salimena, Fátima Regina Gonçalves, 2021, Verbenaceae in Espírito Santo, Brazil: richness, patterns of geographic distribution and conservation, Phytotaxa 484 (1), pp. 1-43 : 20-22

7.1. Lippia alba (Miller) N.E.Brown ex Britton & P.Wilson (1925: 141) . (Fig. 3A)

Subshrubs ca. 1.5 m high, branches tetragonal, hirsute, glandular sessile trichomes present. Leaves opposite, petiole 0.4‒1 cm long; blade 3‒11 × 1‒5.5 cm, chartaceous, ovate, apex acute to obtuse, base cuneate, attenuate, margin entire near the base, serrate toward the apex, ciliate, adaxial surface strigose to pubescent, abaxial surface tomentose, glandular sessile trichomes present. Inflorescences capituliform, 0.3‒1.2 cm long, 1 per axil, peduncle 0.6‒1.7 cm long, hirsute, glandular sessile trichomes present; rachis not elongated in fructification; bracts 1.5‒6 mm long, spirally arranged, ovate, abaxial surface strigose to hirsute, glandular sessile trichomes present, margin ciliate; calyx 1.5‒2 mm long, villous, glandular sessile trichomes present; corolla 4‒6 mm long, pink, lilac or white, throat yellow. Fruit schizocarp, with 2 cluses, ca. 2 mm long, surrounded by the persistent calyx.

FIGURE. A— Distribution of the species Lippia alba , L. brasiliensis , L. diversifolia , L. origanoides , Petrea volubilis , Priva bahiensis and P. lappulacea . B —Distribution of the species Stachytarpheta angustifolia , S. cayennensis , S. hirsutissima , S. restingensis , S. schottiana , S. tomentosa , Verbena litoralis and V. rigida .

Distribution and habitat:— Lippia alba is distributed from the South of the United States to Argentina ( Sanders 2001, Salimena et al. 2016). It is the widest distributed species of the genus in Brazilian territory and is found in all states and phytogeographic domains ( Salimena & Cardoso 2020), besides being very cultivated. In Espírito Santo, it occurs in seasonal semideciduous forest, dense rainforest, and ciliar forest. Not found in SPAs in this state.

Phenology:— Collected with flowers in May, July, and October and with fruits in July.

Preliminary conservation assessment: —This is a common species, presents wide distribution ( Sanders 2001, Salimena et al. 2016), being recorded inside protected areas in South America, and is widest cultivated. Considered “Least Concern” (LC) ( IUCN 2019).

Selected material:— BRAZIL. Espírito Santo: Barra de São Francisco , 12 July 1984, fl. and fr., R. M . Pizziolo 191 ( MBML); Divino de São Lourenço , 17 May 2007, fl., T . Chimalli s.n. ( CESJ 65295 , VIES 27815 ); Domingos Martins , 19 July 1991, fl. and fr., L . Krieger s.n. ( CESJ 18771 ); Linhares , 24 October 2008, fl., A. P . Fontana et al. 5649 ( CESJ, MBML); Viana, 11 May 2010, fl., P. T. N . Neves 21 ( CESJ, MBML) .

Notes:— Lippia alba is a strongly aromatic subshrub characterized by the presence of hirsute branches; abaxial surface of the leaf blade tomentose; ovate bracts and pink, lilac or white corolla. It is a promising species in the pharmaceutical industry, one of the most used plants in popular medicine in Brazil, being widely cultivated and used in the form of teas, compresses, baths, syrup, and extract ( Santos et al. 2015). It presents strong genetic variability regarding the chemical composition of the essential oils (chemotypes) ( Tavares et al. 2011).

Illustrations in Santos et al. (2009).

FIGURE. A —Number of records of Verbenaceae specimens in Espírito Santo per grid. B —Richness of Verbenaceae species in Espírito Santo per grid.