PlantaeDB Logo
Login Sign-up

Genus Matsumurella in Family Lamiaceae

In botanical taxonomy, a genus (plural genera) is a rank used to group closely related species within a family. In the hierarchy, genus sits below family and above species.

Genera are defined by shared morphological, anatomical, and genetic characteristics (for example, features of flowers, fruits, seeds, or leaves) that indicate a close evolutionary relationship among the species they contain.

Each genus can include one or more species. Examples include Rosa (roses) and Solanum (nightshades, including tomato and eggplant).

Do you wish to read more about plant taxonomy? Click here!

Genus Description

Suggest a correction!

Matsumurella Makino belongs to the Lamiaceae and includes approximately fifteen species of perennial herbs native to temperate East Asia. The genus occupies forest edges, montane grasslands and sub‑alpine meadows from the Japanese archipelago through the Korean Peninsula to southern China and the Russian Far East (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024). The type species, Matsumurella longifolia (Siebold & Zucc.) Makino, is widely cultivated as a reference for the group.

Morphologically, Matsumurella is characterised by erect, quadrangular stems bearing opposite leaves that are usually ovate to lanceolate and covered with a fine glandular indumentum. Inflorescences are terminal spikes or lax verticillasters; the calyx is campanulate with five short teeth, and the corolla is strongly bilabiate (two upper lobes fused, three lower lobes spreading) and often pink‑lavender. The ovary is superior, bicarpellary and deeply four‑lobed, maturing into a schizocarp that splits into four nutlets. The style terminates the ovary and the fruit dehisces by mericarp separation.

The centre of diversity lies in Japan, where several species are endemic to island‑mountain systems; others extend into mainland East Asia. Typical habitats range from 200 m to over 3000 m altitude in cool, moist soils; many taxa show a preference for open, high‑light environments such as alpine meadows and secondary scrub. The distribution pattern reflects the temperate floristic elements that survived Pleistocene glaciations in montane refugia.

Pollination is predominantly by bees, especially anthophorine species, and field observations document frequent visitation to the bilabiate corollas (Walker et al., 2020). Seeds are released by gravity and are occasionally dispersed by ants (myrmecochory). Cytologically, the base chromosome number is x = 8, a count reported consistently across Asian collections (Drew & Sytsma, 2012).

Recent molecular work places Matsumurella within the tribe Mentheae, where it forms a well‑supported clade that is sister to a group containing Stachys and Lamium (Jiang et al., 2021). Most current checklists recognise Matsumurella as a distinct genus (POWO, 2024; WFO, 2024), though some authors retain it as a section of Stachys (Jiang et al., 2021). The rank remains a point of taxonomic debate, and synonymy with Leonurus has been largely abandoned.

Human relevance is modest: several species are used in ornamental horticulture for their showy spikes, while others appear as occasional weeds in disturbed sites. No Matsumurella taxa are major food or timber resources.

Conservation assessments are incomplete; many species are listed as Data Deficient or Near‑Threatened due to habitat loss and collection pressure. Continued habitat protection, combined with phylogenomic studies, will be essential for safeguarding the genus’s evolutionary potential.

Pick a Species to see its components: