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Conradina canescens A.Gray
False Rosemary
Synonym(s): Conradina brevifolia
Florida native
This occasional wildflower of sand pine scrub and sandhills is the most widespread of all the Florida and North American species of Conradina. False rosemary can be found in Highlands, Polk and Hernado Counties and from Franklin County west through the panhandle. The range also includes some southern counties of Alabama and Mississippi.
The two-lipped flowers appear in the leaf axils and are bent upward, typically half the size of the similar largeflower false rosemary. The flower can be whitish, pinkish, lavender or purple, with the lower lip being 4-9mm (3/16 - 5/16in.) long. The opposite leaf pairs are clustered so that they may appear whorled. Leaves are grayish, narrowly linear with the lower surface covered with appressed hairs. False rosemary is an aromatic, woody, bushy-branched shrub growing to 50 cm (20 in.) tall.
Conradina canescens is the only species of the genus that is not listed as either threatened or endangered.
Conradina canescens is a member of the Lamiaceae - Mint family.
Other species of the Conradina genus in the Wild Florida Photo database:
Conradina cygniflora - SWANFLOWER FALSE ROSEMARY
Conradina etonia - ETONIA FALSE ROSEMARY
Conradina glabra - APALACHICOLA FALSE ROSEMARY
Conradina grandiflora - LARGEFLOWER FALSE ROSEMARY
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants (Institute for Systemic Botany) profile for this species
iNaturalist profile for this species
USDA Plant Profile for this species
Date record last modified: Aug 11, 2023
