Monarda clinopodia  L. - Basil Bee Balm


 

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Monarda clinopodia - (image 1 of 4)

 

Taxonomy

Family: Lamiaceae

Habitat

Woods and thickets.

Associates

 

 Distribution

VT, MA, and NY, west to MI, IL, and MO, south GA to AL.

Morphology

Aromatic, perennial herb. Leaves opposite, petiolate, acuminate, serrate, twice as long as wide. Flowers fragrant, in solitary, terminal clusters; corolla white or buff-colored, to 3 cm long, the upper lip slender, nearly straight, glabrous to puberulent; stamens surpassing the upper lip; bracteal leaves mostly green but whitish at the base.

Notes

Flowers late June to early October

Wetland indicator: Facultative Upland

Quite rare in the Chicago region and endangered in NY and NY. This photo was taken at the Morton Arboretum, where it was may have been introduced as there is no record of it being native that part of IL. The villous apex of the upper corolla lip suggests an intergrade with M. fistulosa.

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

 

Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.

 

USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

 


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 Michael Hough © 2005