North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Cunila origanoides

Cunila origanoides (L.) Britton

american-dittany, common dittany, stone-mint, wild-oregano

Synonym(s): Cunila mariana, Mappia origanoides

Image ID: 8281
Image by: Parkins, Grant Morrow
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: CUOR
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cunila origanoides
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2017-12-01

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: CUNIL
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Cunila
GENUS AUTHORITY: D. Royen ex L.
GENUS COMMON: Cunila
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of 1 or 9 species, of e. North America (1 species) and (depending on circumscription) Mexico (8 species). Agostini, Echeverrigaray, & Souza-Chies (2012) and Drew & Sytsma (2012) show that the South American species previously included in Cunila definitely do not belong there, and that Cunila may best be treated as monophyletic, including only our species (the 8 Mexican species removed to a new genus).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION:
GENUS REFERENCES: Agostini, Echeverrigaray, & Souza-Chies (2012); Drew & Sytsma (2012); Harley et al. in Kadereit (2004).

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: LAMIAC
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Lamiaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lindley 1836 or LABIATAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789
FAMILY COMMON: Mint Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of about 230-250 genera and 6700-7170 species, herbs, shrubs, vines, and trees, cosmopolitan. The placement in the Lamiaceae of several genera traditionally placed in Verbenaceae (e.g. Clerodendrum) is strongly supported by several lines of evidence.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Harley et al. in Kadereit (2004).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: A wiry-stemmed, sprawling perennial found on dry rocky slopes, shale barrens and other dry (often sloping) woodlands and barrens.
STEMS: Stems 4-angled, stiff verging on woody, branched, reddish-brown, and soft-hairy in the upper half but smooth below.
LEAVES: Leaves opposite, sessile or short-petiolate, oval to lance-shaped, Â¾-1Â½ in. long, with sparingly toothed margins and dotted with tiny glands.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flowers in clusters of 3â€“9 in upper leaf axils, pink or lavender with purple spots, Â¼ in. long, the corolla a hairy tube with 4 spreading lobes and 2 prominently protruding stamens and the calyx tubular as well.
FRUITS: Fruit 4 tiny, brown nutlets.
COMMENTS: Plant gives off a strong scent of oregano when bruised.
HEIGHT: 8-16 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb, Subshrub

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Opposite
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Bilateral (Zygomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Aug-Oct

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
						x	x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Lavender, pink

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
		x					x	x

FRUITING PERIOD: Oct-Dec.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Dry forests, Outcrops and glades, Woods margins
NATIVE RANGE: eastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text: American-dittany is a many-branched southeastern native perennial that produces plentiful small pink to lavender flowers in late summer. It has a dainty appearance, though it is a tough plant and quite easy to grow. It prefers sandy soils, although any well-drained soil is acceptable. Each plant spreads approximately 18 inches. Over time, this species may continue to spread over a larger area. This species is found in open woodlands of the piedmont and coastal plain regions of North Carolina. Its pleasantly aromatic leaves have long been used in making teas.

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE: Dry, Average, Well-drained
LIGHT EXPOSURE: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 5
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE: 8
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE: Bee Friendly, Butterfly Friendly
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
10	HORT	2012-11-15	Summer	View
206	HORT	2003-11-07	Liloia	View
1411	HORT	2006-11-14	Heiney	View
1784	HORT	2005-01-01	Liloia	View
1852	HORT	2006-11-13	Liloia	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
8	2016-0074	2016-11-04	10	View
207	2011-0019	2011-01-27	206	View
4155	1992-0311			View
4925	1995-0043			View
5679	1995-0803			View
6048	1995-1179			View
7418	2000-0161	2000-04-19		View
8071	2004-0079	2003-07-31		View
9621	2023-0074	2023-04-24	0	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
7	8	24	Liloia	2016-10-25	View
8	8	25	Liloia	2016-10-25	View
9	8	16	Liloia	2016-10-25	View
419	207	32	Fache	2001-04-29	View
6483	4155	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7344	4925	202	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
8193	5679	204	NCBG staff	1993-01-01	View
8698	6048	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
10414	7418	115	NCBG staff	1999-07-01	View
11343	8071	142	Liloia	2003-07-31	View
12979	0	198	MacIntyre	0000-00-00	View
13546	9621	95	Briggs	2023-04-06	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: CUOR
USDA Common Name: Common Dittany
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, AR, DC, DE, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MO, MS, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Subshrub, Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cunila origanoides
COMMON NAME: Stone-mint, American-dittany, Wild-oregano
SYNONYMY: [= C, F, G, K, Mo, Pa, RAB, Va, W, WV; = Mappia origanoides (Linnaeus) House - S]
PHENOLOGY: Aug-Oct; Oct-Dec.
HABITAT: Dry rocky slopes, shale barrens, other dry (usually sloping) woodlands and barrens.
COMMENTS: S. NY and PA west to MO, south to c. SC, n. GA, OK, and ne. TX (Singhurst & Holmes 2004).
RANGE MAP: Cunila origanoides.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Lamiaceae Lindley 1836 or LABIATAE A.L. de Jussieu 1789 (Mint Family)
SUMMARY: A family of about 230-250 genera and 6700-7170 species, herbs, shrubs, vines, and trees, cosmopolitan. The placement in the Lamiaceae of several genera traditionally placed in Verbenaceae (e.g. Clerodendrum) is strongly supported by several lines of evidence.
REFERENCE: Harley et al. in Kadereit (2004).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Cunila D. Royen ex L. (Cunila)
SUMMARY: A genus of 1 or 9 species, of e. North America (1 species) and (depending on circumscription) Mexico (8 species). Agostini, Echeverrigaray, & Souza-Chies (2012) and Drew & Sytsma (2012) show that the South American species previously included in Cunila definitely do not belong there, and that Cunila may best be treated as monophyletic, including only our species (the 8 Mexican species removed to a new genus).
REFERENCE: Agostini, Echeverrigaray, & Souza-Chies (2012); Drew & Sytsma (2012); Harley et al. in Kadereit (2004).

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Cunila origanoides in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Cunila origanoides in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Cunila origanoides in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Cunila origanoides in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Cunila origanoides in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Cunila origanoides

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 8281 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 14521 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 8281 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)