tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7577407817580433311.post6394977560673428713..comments2024-03-28T08:06:56.166-07:00Comments on A Wandering Botanist: Plant Story-- Wonderfully Fragrant Basil, Ocimum basilcumA Wandering Botanisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06862965150731361253noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7577407817580433311.post-61271864719471069502021-04-03T10:27:20.164-07:002021-04-03T10:27:20.164-07:00The mints, Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are one of the f...The mints, Lamiaceae or Labiatae, are one of the families gaining species from DNA analysis. Currently there are some 7000 species, making it the 4th largest plant family. Modern classification wants the plants grouped together to be lineages from a common ancestor, no relatives left out, no species in the lineage included. So B. Li et al. 2016 (Sci. Reports) compared chloroplast DNA across hundreds of mint species. Despite being a distinctive subgroup, the teaks (Techtona species), come out as within the mints (see Fig. 1 of Li et al, its online https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5066227/ ) Note that there are other big tropical trees in the Lamiaceae as well (and shrubs and vines). Li et al. do comment that it looks like the teaks branched off relatively early. A Wandering Botanisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06862965150731361253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7577407817580433311.post-82783100424532872612021-03-23T15:51:04.579-07:002021-03-23T15:51:04.579-07:00I'll look for that information.I'll look for that information.A Wandering Botanisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06862965150731361253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7577407817580433311.post-43842990814097321542021-03-22T20:08:35.390-07:002021-03-22T20:08:35.390-07:00I laughed at your unwillingness to insult basil. T...I laughed at your unwillingness to insult basil. The various stories were interesting, too.<br /><br />I just posted about another member of the mint family: the Lyreleaf sage that's just begun blooming here. While researching that plant, I learned that teak trees also are members of the mint family. I still can't quite get over that, and I haven't been able to find any information about what led to their inclusion. Do you have any idea? I know the mint family is large, but that just seems odd.shoreacreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16284698314697628805noreply@blogger.com