A genus of small plants in the mint family, commonly called false pennyroyal or mock pennyroyal, native to the Americas.
From New Latin, possibly deriving from Greek 'hedys' (sweet) combined with a botanical term. The genus was established by botanists in the 18th century.
Hedeoma species smell incredibly minty and strong—early American settlers used pennyroyal as a folk remedy, though we now know some species can be toxic. The 'false' in false pennyroyal shows how botanists had to rename plants when they realized they were different from European species.
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