The sister group of this clade is the core of the Nepetinae, the more or less robust and typically aromatic catmints ("Nepeta") and their close relatives which occur mainly in and around western Asia. The monotypic and highly distinct "Cedronella" (Canary balm) of Macaronesia is slightly more distant and seems to be a basal relict within the subtribe. Thus, the last common ancestor of "Agastache" and its closest relatives probably was an aromatic Eastern Asian perennial or subshrub with verticillasters of bluish-purple flowers – i.e. generally very similar to the present-day "Agastache" already. The plesiomorphic appearance of "Agastache" is underscored by the fact that some of its species were formerly placed in "Lophanthus" and even "Cedronella"; essentially, the genus as recognized today was distributed piecemeal across the entire Nepetinae. In general, the evolutionary pattern of the subtribe is a mostly eastward expansion from an origin in the southern or the eastern Mediterranean region, which spread across much of the Old World and with three genera reached North America.