Collinsonia is a small genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae, placed within the tribe Elsholtzieae alongside four other genera (Elsholtzia, Mosla, Perilla, and Perillula). The genus was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum and named in honor of the English botanist Peter Collinson (1694-1768).
Collinsonia has a disjunct native distribution spanning eastern North America and East Asia, a pattern shared with several other genera in its tribe. North American members occur from Quebec and Ontario south through the eastern United States, including populations in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and the southeastern states from Louisiana to North Carolina. The East Asian members are found across China (including Fujian, Guangdong, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Yunnan), Taiwan, and Japan.
The taxonomic history of the genus has been complicated: many species names have been published over time, and some authors recognized as many as ten species. A taxonomic revision in 2006 narrowed this to four accepted species, though GBIF's backbone taxonomy still carries a larger number of names associated with the genus, reflecting this unresolved history rather than a settled higher count of accepted species. Taxonomic databases place the genus firmly within Lamiaceae, order Lamiales, consistent across sources.
Among its species, Collinsonia canadensis — native to Quebec, Ontario, and the eastern United States — is the most widely documented member of the genus.
Etymology
Collinsonia was named by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum (1753) in honor of the English botanist Peter Collinson (1694-1768).
Distribution
The genus is native to eastern North America (from Quebec and Ontario south through the eastern United States) and East Asia (China, Taiwan, and Japan), a disjunct range shared by other genera in its tribe, Elsholtzieae.
Taxonomy Notes
Collinsonia sits in the tribe Elsholtzieae, a small tribe of five genera (Elsholtzia, Mosla, Collinsonia, Perilla, Perillula) within Lamiaceae. Species circumscription has long been unsettled — some authors recognized up to ten species — but a 2006 revision reduced the genus to four accepted species, even though GBIF's backbone still lists 18 associated names reflecting that unresolved history.
