Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Slender mountain mint

SLENDER MOUNTAIN MINT

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Pycnanthemum tenuifolium Schrad.

Woodson County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 16-40 inches

Family: Lamiaceae - Mint Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Slender-leaved mountain mint, narrowleaf mountain mint.

Stems:

Erect, square, glabrous or angles sometimes minutely pubescent; upper portion branched.

Leaves:

Opposite, sessile, linear or linear-lanceolate, .6 to 1.4 inches long, less than .25 inch wide, glabrous; margins entire, minutely fringed; tips narrowly pointed.

Inflorescences:

Clusters, small, dense, 1/6 to 1/3 inch wide, solitary, terminal, arranged in compact corymbs.

Flowers:

Sessile, calyces regular, tubular, 5-toothed, 10- to 13-nerved; teeth narrowly triangular, much shorter than tube; corolla whitish or occasionally pale lavender, 1/5 to 1/4 inch long, slightly 2-lipped, whitish-pubescent without, lightly pubescent within, much exceeding calyx; lips nearly equal in length; upper lip erect, entire or notched; lower lip bent downward, 3-lobed, purple spotted, middle lobe longer; stamens 4.

Fruits:

Nutlets, egg-shaped or oval, 3-sided, dark brown, usually smooth.

Habitat:

Moist open areas of upland prairies, meadows, pastures, open woods, and roadsides; limestone soils.

Distribution:

East 1/3 of Kansas.

Uses:

Some species of Pycnanthemum have been used medicinally to treat colds and fevers.

Comments:

Often forms dense colonies.

Slender mountain mint flowers