Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

FALSE DRAGONHEAD

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Physostegia angustifolia Fernald

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-5 feet

Family: Lamiaceae - Mint Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July

Also Called:

Narrow-leaf false dragonhead, lion's heart.

Stems:

Erect, 4-sided, usually unbranched below, mostly glabrous, base of stem swollen.

Leaves:

Opposite, simple, ascending to nearly appressed, sessile, thick, stiff, linear to narrowly lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2 to 6.8 inches long, 1/5 to 1 inch wide, usually clasping; margins sharply toothed, slightly wavy; tip pointed to gradually tapering-pointed; leaves above middle of stem reduced in size, widely spaced.

Inflorescences:

Raceme, spike-like, 2 to 12 inches long, terminal, often interrupted near base; bracts ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, 1/2 to 2/3 length of calyx; lowest calyces separated from others.

Flowers:

Showy; calyx 1/5 to 1/3 inch long; corolla .8 to 1.4 inches long, 2-lipped, pale lavender to white, purple spots inside, minutely pubescent to glabrous outside; stamens 4.

Fruits:

Nutlets, 4, egg-shaped, 3-sided, 1/12 to 1/8 inch long, smooth, brown, each 1-seeded.

Habitat:

Prairies, rocky open ground, ditches, stream banks, moist or wet swales, thickets, and rocky open glades.

Distribution:

Southeast quarter of Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Comments:

The common name dragonhead alludes to the open mouth of the corolla which was thought to resemble the fabled beasts. The common name lion's heart alludes to the shape of the immature inflorescence which resembles the brush of a lion's tail and the use of the plant by ancients to slow heart palpitations. Physostegia is from Greek physa "bladder" and stege "covering", in reference to the somewhat inflated calyx. Some species in this genus go by the name obedient-plant because the flowers remain temporarily in place when pushed to one side. False dragonhead is sometimes used as an ornamental.

False dragonhead leaf