Catnip giant hyssop

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Catnip giant hyssop stem

Catnip giant hyssop

Catnip giant hyssop inflorescence

Catnip giant hyssop

Catnip giant hyssop leaves

Catnip giant hyssop

Catnip giant hyssop

Catnip giant hyssop

Catnip giant hyssop leaf

Catnip giant hyssop

Morphology

Stem

Erect, stout, 4-sided (square in cross-section), glabrous, branching above; branches rigidly ascending.

Leaves

Opposite, simple, thin, broadly egg-shaped, infrequently lanceolate, 1 to 6.5 inches long, .5 to 3.6 inches wide, reduced upwards, stem leaves often larger than branch leaves; upper surface glabrous, lower surface minutely-hairy to nearly glabrous; margins coarsely-toothed; tip pointed to tapering pointed; base rounded to somewhat heart-shaped; long-stalked below to short-stalked above; stalk .8 to 3.2 inches long, sparsely pubescent.

Inflorescence

Spikes dense, continuous, cylindrical, 1.6 to 8 inches long, .4 to .8 inch in diameter, terminal; spike composed of false whorls of opposite cymes; bracts elliptic-ovate, usually exceeding calyx, sparsely pubescent, tip tapering-pointed.

Flower

Calyx tubular, usually 15-veined, 5-toothed, greenish, glabrous; tube 1/8 to 1/5 inch long; teeth ovate or broadly triangular, tips blunt or pointed; corolla 1/5 to 1/4 inch long, white, greenish-white, or pale yellow, conspicuously 2-lipped; upper lip shallowly 2-lobed, erect; lower lip 3-lobed, spreading, curved downward; stamens 4, arranged in 2 pairs, extending beyond corolla.

Fruit

Nutlets, elliptic, about 1/16 inch long, brown, smooth, minutely hairy at tip.

Ecology

Habitat

Moist woodlands, borders of woods, rocky wooded hillsides, occasionally moist, open sites; alluvial soils.

Distribution

Principally east half, but a few records in southwest 1/4.

Practical Information

Uses

The Iroquois used a compound infusion of this plant as a wash to treat poison ivy.

Additional Notes