Species
+

Aloysia gratissima (Gillies & Hook.) Tronc.

Common Bee Brush, White Beebrush, Whitebrush, common bee-brush

Climate known 59 photographs
Add one to my plants Sow seed

Every figure on this page is derived from public data by a stated rule and says its source; nothing here is written by a person or a model, except the Wikipedia passage, which is quoted and marked as such. How it is made.

Summary

Aloysia gratissima, commonly called whitebrush or beebrush, is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family Verbenaceae. It is native to Texas through Arizona in the United States, northern Mexico through Veracruz and Oaxaca in North America and southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and central Chile in South America.

Text from Wikipedia, “Aloysia gratissima”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written. Kept separate from everything derived here.

About the genus · Aloysia

Aloysia is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are known generally as beebrushes. They are native to the Americas, where they are distributed in temperate climates, as well as in subtropical and desert climates. More on Wikipedia ›

The opening of Wikipedia, “Aloysia”, CC BY-SA 4.0, quoted as written.

Family
Verbenaceae
Described by
(Gillies & Hook.) Tronc.
Native to
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas +13
Wild records
1637 in range· 720 open

At a glance

Warmest month
29°C
Jun, mean day; nights 18 °C (CHELSA)
Rain
689mm/yr
12 wet months · peak Oct 72 mm (CHELSA)
Light
27–43DLI
mol/m²/day, winter to summer, open sky (CHELSA shortwave)
In short condensed by rule from the cultivation cards · not written by a person
Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (March to July and September to November in the northern hemisphere). Habitat rain 689 mm a year, wettest October at 72 mm, driest January at 47 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere). Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 43 mol/m²/day. Cold floor -2.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).
Each sentence is one card's own one-line form, written by the same rule as the card (Its year, Rain, Light, Temperature); the note cannot say what a card does not. Months are given for the northern hemisphere (set your site in Settings to change this), and the habitat's own alongside. The cards · the figures.

Also known as Aloysia famatinensis Ravenna; Aloysia floribunda M.Martens & Galeotti; Aloysia gratissima (Gillies & Hook.) L.D.Benson; Aloysia gratissima f. macrophylla Moldenke; Aloysia gratissima var. paraguariensis (Briq.) Moldenke and 20 more.

Cultivation

Its year Rain rule: no season, 70% of the rain takes 8 months (March to July and September to November in the northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, and what two fixed rules read from them.

The rain rule reads no season: 70% of the year's rain (494 mm of 689 mm) takes 8 months, March to July and September to November. Mean temperature moves 9.2 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: September to January and March to May.

Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the envelope cells: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve gives a season to reverse. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain Habitat rain 689 mm a year, wettest October at 72 mm, driest January at 47 mm (habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

689 mm a year at the habitat, 494 mm of it March to July and September to November. Wettest month October at 72 mm, driest January at 47 mm. Across the envelope cells the year's total runs 372 mm to 1475 mm (10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year) (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; habitat calendar, northern hemisphere).

CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the envelope cells. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 43 mol/m²/day.

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Open sky over the habitat: 27 to 43 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 15, the highest 90th-percentile month 50).

CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Warmth and air Cold floor -2.0 °C (1st-percentile habitat night, NASA POWER).

This species’ habitat figures, with their source.

Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell is -2.0 °C, the absolute minimum -10.3 °C, about 11 frost nights a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 36.4 °C. Monthly means: coldest night 8.9 °C in January (across the envelope cells 3.8 °C to 20.8 °C), warmest day 29.1 °C in June (median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). Cold floor: -2.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at the typical cell (NASA POWER).

NASA POWER daily minima and maxima 1981–2024 at the typical cell, lapse-corrected to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA. The cold floor is the figure named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 56 to 59% across the year (monthly means, median year across the envelope cells, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the envelope cells.

The figures the cards read from are in Climate below, and where they came from in Natural habitat.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat climate through the yearMean day from 21 °C in Jan to 29 °C in Jun; mean night from 9 °C in Jan to 18 °C in Jun. The cold quarter, Dec to Feb, is the three months around the coldest night. 689 mm of rain a year, most in Oct. The bands show the 10th to 90th percentile across 941 habitat cells. Over 44 years at the typical cell the absolute minimum was -10.3 °C and the 99th-percentile day 36.4 °C; neither is dated to a month. Beneath: daily light integral and relative humidity through the year, each on its own scale.-20°-10°10°20°30°40°frost36.4° 99th-percentile day (undated)-10.3° lowest night in 44 yrs (undated)°C · day and nightcold quarter050100150200mm rainDLI 27–43RH 56–59 %JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain 10th–90th percentile across 941 habitat cells cold quarter: the three months around the coldest night extremes over 44 years at the typical cell, marked at the edge: undated DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C21 / 16–3023 / 19–2925 / 22–2826 / 21–3029 / 17–3329 / 15–3528 / 14–3527 / 17–3526 / 19–3226 / 22–2923 / 20–2721 / 16–29
Night °C9 / 4–2111 / 6–2013 / 8–1914 / 10–1815 / 8–2118 / 6–2417 / 5–2417 / 6–2516 / 8–2215 / 11–1912 / 8–1710 / 5–19
Rain mm47 / 16–18550 / 11–16163 / 8–15556 / 14–13663 / 16–10761 / 8–11456 / 14–10951 / 12–9868 / 30–11572 / 28–12955 / 11–15247 / 10–167
DLI28 / 19–4634 / 24–4032 / 29–4235 / 24–4737 / 18–5041 / 15–4843 / 17–4541 / 22–4234 / 29–3833 / 26–3830 / 20–4327 / 18–46
RH %56 / 49–6257 / 47–6357 / 44–6357 / 42–6359 / 44–6359 / 47–6357 / 51–6356 / 51–6156 / 51–6356 / 50–6256 / 48–6056 / 49–61

Each figure is the median across the 941 grid cells holding the 1544 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. Extremes and elevation were read at the typical cell 1292:1552 (25.375, -102.375). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -10.3 °C, 1st-percentile night -2.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 36.4 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Envelope: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 941 distinct grid cells holding the 1544 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1292:1552 (its coldest month's mean night nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 25.50_-102.500, lapse-corrected +278 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 1586 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across every in-range record's cell, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeArizona, New Mexico, Texas, Mexico Central, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southwest, Bolivia, Brazil Southeast, Brazil South, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Chile Central, Paraguay, Uruguay
Kew's description“shrub” · “seasonally dry tropical”· quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Map marker29.571, -98.529 · in the densest population, 629 records (38% of those in range)
Evidence usedThe map marker and the climate envelope rest on all 1637 georeferenced records inside the native range; the map shows only the 720 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 3 km away. 17 records outside the range (gardens, roadsides, misidentifications) ignored. 93 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km and stay on the map but off the climate.
The map markerthe map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1637 in-range records; it decides nothing.

Photographs

Aloysia gratissimaAloysia gratissimaAloysia gratissimaAloysia gratissimaAloysia gratissimaAloysia gratissimaAloysia gratissimaAloysia gratissima

Photographs: (c) Chet Burrier, some rights reserved (CC BY); (c) aacocucci, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); (c) Sam Kieschnick, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Cleveland Powell, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2).

Photographs: iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons did not answer when this page was built; what is shown came from the sources that did.

Papers naming this species

Works whose title or abstract names Aloysia gratissima, most cited first, from OpenAlex (CC0). A mention, not a cultivation source: nothing on this page is drawn from them.

Essential Oils of Aromatic Plants with Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antiviral, and Cytotoxic Properties – an Overview
Jürgen Reichling, Paul Schnitzler, Ulrike Suschke, Reinhard Saller (2009) · Complementary Medicine Research
Recognition of Natural Products as Potential Inhibitors of COVID-19 Main Protease (Mpro): In-Silico Evidences
Rohan R. Narkhede, Ashwini V. Pise, Rameshwar S. Cheke, Sachin D. Shinde (2020) · Natural Products and Bioprospecting
Essential Oils as Stress-Reducing Agents for Fish Aquaculture: A Review
Carine F. Souza, Matheus D. Baldissera, Bernardo Baldisserotto, Berta Maria Heinzmann (2019) · Frontiers in Physiology
Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia
Ina Vandebroek, Evert Thomas, Sabino Sanca, Patrick Van Damme (2008) · Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Biosynthesis of Nanoparticles Using Plant Extracts and Essential Oils
Sérgio Antunes Filho, Mayara Santana dos Santos, Otávio Augusto L. dos Santos, Bianca Pizzorno Backx (2023) · Molecules
A molecular phylogeny and classification of Verbenaceae
Hannah E. Marx, Nataly O’Leary, Yao‐Wu Yuan, Patricia Lu‐Irving (2010) · American Journal of Botany
Demography, sociospatial behaviour and genetics of feral pigs (Sus scrofa) in a semi‐arid environment
Timothy M. Gabor, Eric C. Hellgren, Ronald A. Van Den Bussche, Nova J. Silvy (1999) · Journal of Zoology
Virucidal activity of essential oils from aromatic plants of San Luis, Argentina
Cybele C. Garcı́a, Laura B. Talarico, Norma Almeida, Silvia Colombres (2003) · Phytotherapy Research
Fighting Asian Soybean Rust
Caspar Langenbach, Ruth Campe, Sebastian F. Beyer, André N. Mueller (2016) · Frontiers in Plant Science
Antimicrobial Activity of Essential Oils against Streptococcus mutans and their Antiproliferative Effects
Lívia Câmara de Carvalho Galvão, Vivian Fernandes Furletti, Salete Meyre Fernandes Bersan, Marcos Guilherme da Cunha (2012) · Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Ferulic acid exerts antidepressant-like effect in the tail suspension test in mice: Evidence for the involvement of the serotonergic system
Ana Lúcia Bertarello Zeni, Andréa D.E. Zomkowski, Marcelo Maraschin, Ana Lúcia S. Rodrigues (2012) · European Journal of Pharmacology
Changes in floristic composition and physiognomy are decoupled along elevation gradients in central Argentina
Melisa A. Giorgis, Ana M. Cingolani, Diego E. Gurvich, Paula A. Tecco (2017) · Applied Vegetation Science

Similar habitat climate the 6 species whose habitat climate is nearest this one's: mean day and night, month by month, and rain on a log scale, in calendar order, so a habitat with the same seasons six months out is far, not near. Nothing else counts: not range, not family.

Other Aloysia 2 in the reference

History & registers

Where this page came from built 2026-09-20 · dossier v2 · node
gbif.species answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.synonyms answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
gbif.vernacular answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (offline re-derivation; the backbone was not asked)
wcvp.distribution answered
gbif.occurrences answeredGBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.3h4zam
climate answered
wikidata answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
wikipedia answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.taxon not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive)
inat.photos.wild answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped
inat.photos.cultivated nothing to reportcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
commons not askedcarried from build of 2026-09-20 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive); that build: carried from build of 2026-09-19 (rederive)
gbif.media answered
openalex answeredcarried from build of 2026-09-20; this build: skipped

Every upstream is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, or refused. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 98 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.