Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - American germander

AMERICAN GERMANDER

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Teucrium canadense L.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 1-4 feet

Family: Lamiaceae - Mint Family

Flowering Period: June, July, August, September

Also Called:

Wood sage.

Stems:

Erect, 4-sided, simple or sparingly branched, soft-hairy.

Leaves:

Opposite, short-stalked, lanceolate to ovate, 1.5 to 6 inches long, .5 to 2.5 inches wide, lightly hairy or nearly glabrous above, densely whitish gray pubescent below; margins irregularly toothed; tips pointed.

Inflorescences:

Spikes, 3 to 12 inches long, terminal, numerous 2-6-flowered, whorl-like clusters.

Flowers:

Calyces 2-lipped, upper lip 3-toothed, lower lip 2-toothed, often purplish, variously hairy; corollas 2-lipped, 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, rose, pink, or lavender with darker spots, upper lip cleft, lobes erect, lower lip prominent, 3-lobed; stamens 4.

Fruits:

Nutlets, 4, egg-shaped, glabrous, wrinkled, pale brown, 1-seeded.

Habitat:

Open or shaded moist sites, thickets, ditches, low areas in pastures, and stream banks.

Distribution:

Principally east 2/3 of Kansas.

Forage Value:

Prairie chickens will eat the nutlets.

Comments:

American germander forms colonies by rhizomes.

American germander