Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Hairy mountain mint

HAIRY MOUNTAIN MINT

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Pycnanthemum verticillatum (Michx. ) Pers. var. pilosum (Nutt. ) Cooperrider

[=Pycnanthemum pilosum Nutt.]

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 2-4 feet

Family: Lamiaceae - Mint Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Woods mountain mint, whorled mountain mint.

Stems:

Erect, 4-sided, spreading soft-hairy, short-branched above.

Leaves:

Opposite, sessile or lower leaves short-stalked, lanceolate or infrequently elliptic, 4/5 to 3 inches long, 1/6 to 3/5 inch wide, 4-7 pairs of lateral veins, upper surface nearly glabrous to soft-hairy, lower surface soft-hairy; margins entire or with few remote teeth, fringed with hairs; tip pointed to tapering pointed; base narrowly wedge-shaped.

Inflorescences:

Head-like clusters, solitary to numerous, small, compact, 1/3 to 4/5 inch wide, woolly, terminal; bracts sub-tending flower clusters leaf-like, lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, 2/5 to 3/5 inch long; margins entire; tip pointed; outer bracts velvety above; inner bracts with conspicuous mid-vein, margins fringed with hairs.

Flowers:

Calyx tubular, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, 5-toothed, white-woolly; teeth narrowly triangular, upper 3 teeth sometimes united at base; corolla much exceeding the calyx, 1/5 to 1/3 inch long, slightly 2-lipped, white to pale lavender; lower lip purple spotted, bent downward, 3-lobed, middle lobe larger than lateral lobes; upper lip erect, entire; stamens 4, nearly equal, projecting beyond corolla.

Fruits:

Nutlets, 4, egg-shaped, brown, glabrous or tip slightly pubescent, each 1-seeded.

Habitat:

Open woods, rocky slopes, outcrops, thickets, prairies, stream valleys, and along railroads.

Distribution:

East 1/5 of Kansas.

Comments:

Hairy mountain mint attracts bees.

Hairy mountain mint inflorescence and flowers