PLANT: Perennials herbs, aromatic. LEAVES: often sessile at plant apex. INFLORESCENCE: verticillate bracteate cymes. FLOWERS: calyx zygomorphic, tubular or rarely campanulate, 13 17 veined; corolla zygomorphic, 2 lipped, the upper lip 2 lobed, the lower lip 3 lobed, the tube exceeding calyx; stamens 4, the upper pair longer than lower, the anther cells ellipsoid, divergent; ovary 4 parted; stigma subequally 2 lobed. NUTLETS: oblong, glabrous, smooth or tuberculate to rugose. NOTES: Ca. 250 spp.; temperate Eurasia and Afr. (Latin: namesake for Etrurian city Nepete [present day Nepi, Italy]; Pliny's name for one of the Lamiaceae). Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum 570. REFERENCES: Walters, Gretchen M. 2003. Lamiaceae. J. Ariz. – Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 35(2).