Friends bring me all sorts of strange herbs.

Like this one.

Pic: Malotira or Greek mountain tea. A year or two ago a student asked what this strange greek plant was. I had no idea, looked high and low, and still had no idea. Later she'd found out that it was malotira, latin name of Sideritis syriaca.

And last week a couple of friends wanted to show this strange Greek plant they had, as dried tea, just in case I knew what it was.

'course I knew, it was just a matter of finding the piece of paper where I'd written the name a year or so before.
And they'd brought a good pint or two of dried herb, for me, for my troubles. My friends are nice people.

Malotira is a Lamiaceae (mint family) plant. It's called "Greek mountain tea", and is used for coughs, fevers, urinary tract troubles, to lower blood pressure, and as a soothing evening tea.

It's tasty, too. Dunno how strong that "evening tea" bit is, though.