About Lepechinia calycina (Benth.) Epling
Lepechinia calycina is an aromatic shrub. Sections of its bark are covered in long hairs, some of which contain resin glands. Its leaves range from lance-shaped to roughly oval, and sometimes have toothed edges. This shrub produces flowers in loose raceme inflorescences. Each individual flower is enclosed in a cuplike calyx made of sepals; these sepals are green when new, and turn reddish purple as they age. The flower's corolla is somewhat cylindrical, colored white to light lavender, and rolled back at the tip into four small lips and one longer lip. After the flower falls away, a tiny fruit develops inside the sepal cup. This fruit is rounded, dark in color, and slightly hairy. The Miwok, a Native American group native to California, used an extract made from this plant's leaves to treat fever and headache.
