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| Category: Perennial |
| Family: Lamiaceae (Labiatae) (Mints) |
| Origin: Balearic Islands (Mediterranean) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: Lavender Blue |
| Bloomtime: Spring/Fall |
| Synonyms: [T. majoricum, Hort.,T. aroanium, Hort.] |
| Height: <1 foot |
| Width: 2-3 feet |
| Exposure: Full Sun |
| Deer Tolerant: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F |
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Teucrium cossonii (Majorcan Teucrium) - An attractive low-growing perennial that forms a mat 4-6 inches tall and spreads 2-3 feet. It has 3/4 inch long very narrow (1/8 inch wide) aromatic gray-green leaves, that are whitish underneath and densely clothe the thin branches. Small lavender-purple flowers held in tight half inch wide capitate heads bloom in abundance at branch tips in the spring and again in fall. Plant in full sun in a soil with decent drainage and irrigate only occasionally as this plant really has low water needs. It is hardy to 0-10° F and is quite heat tolerant as well. A great small scale mounding groundcover that attracts bees and other insects to the garden yet is resistant to predation by deer. This plant is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea island of Majorca (Mallorca), one of the Balleric Islands, where it grows on limestone rocky soils. The name for the genus has several possible derivations but most likely it is from the Greek name Teucer, a king of Troy, who is said to have used the plant medicinally. The specific epithet honors the French botanist Ernest Saint-Charles Cosson (1819 - 1889). It is sometimes called also called Fruity or Pineapple Germander and, while some claim not to smell the pineapple scent when the leaves are crushed, this would be how we would best describe the aroma. We have grown this plant continuously at our nursery since 1991. We first listed it as Teucrium majoricum with the synonym T. polium ssp. pii-fontii as this how it was labeled when we got our first stock plant in 1990 at Marshall Olbrich and Lester Hawkins' amazing Western Hills Nursery in Occidental, California, which at its time was the horticultural Mecca of California. We later listed it as T. polium subspecies (or forma) cossonii but in 1992 changed our listing to Teucrium cossonii [T. majoricum, Hort.] indicating that we believed this plant's correct name to be Teucrium cossonii but that it had been previously sold in the trade incorrectly under the invalid name Teucrium majoricum. The current listing on the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew database (listing at Kew Plants of the World Online for this plant is Teucrium cossonii D.Wood. Recently we have seen this plant offered as Teucrium aroanium, Teucrium aroanium 'Majoricum' or Teucrium aroanium (Majoricum) and feel all of these name are incorrect' Teucrium aroanium Orph. ex Boiss is a valid name for a species from Greece that is a larger plant with broader ovate to obovate white wooly leaves and larger blue flowers that are not in capitate heads like T. cossonii and is described more like a prostrate Teucrium fruticans. Majorcan Teucrium is also sometimes commonly called Gray Creeping Germander.
Information displayed on this page about Teucrium cossonii is based on the research conducted about it in our library and from reliable online resources. We also note those observations we have made of this plant as it grows in the nursery's garden and in other gardens, as well how crops have performed in our nursery field. We will incorporate comments we receive from others, and welcome to hear from anyone who may have additional information, particularly if they share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.
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