Trichostema arizonicum

Plant: Suffrutescent perennial herb; stems 25-50 cm tall Leaves: petioles 2(-5) mm long, winged; blades 13-30 mm long, 8-12 mm wide, broadly elliptic to ovate, oblong or obovate, 1-nerved; margin entire or few-toothed INFLORESCENCE: panicles of cymes; bracts leafy or reduced Flowers: pedicels 8-11 mm long, calyx actinomorphic, 1.5-2 mm long; corolla 7-12 mm long, the tube slightly exserted, white except the middle lobe of the lower lip blue; stamens ca. twice corolla length, arching above the corolla, the filaments white, anther sacs strongly divaricate Fruit: NUTLETS ca. 2.5 mm long, brownish to greenish-tan, the apex with a few short-stalked glands Misc: Desert grassland to woodlands; 1200-2000 m (4000-6600 ft); Jul-Oct REFERENCES: Christy, Charlotte M. 2003. Lamiaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 35(2).

Christy et al. 2003

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Suffrutescent perennial with erect pubescent stems 25-50 cm tall. Leaves: Opposite, on petioles 2 mm long, winged; blades 13-30 mm long, 8-12 mm wide, broadly elliptic to ovate, oblong or obovate, 1-nerved; margin entire or few-toothed. Flowers: Panicle of flowers on pedicels 8-11 mm long, actinomorphic calyx, 1.5-2 mm long; corolla 7-12 mm long, tube slightly exserted, white except the middle lobe of the lower lip is blue; stamens are twice the corolla length, arching above the corolla; filaments white, anther sacs strongly divaricate. Fruits: Sessile ovary bearing obovoid nutlets, rugose-reticulate or irregularly ridged, often pubescent. Ecology: Found in desert grasslands and woodlands, often in the shade; 4,000-6,500 ft (1219-1981 m); flowers July-October. Distribution: s AZ, NM, TX; n MEX. Notes: Readily distinguished by the unique long arching filaments and flowers; decidedly un-mint like to some, especially with the purported old urine smell of the leaves. Plants are erect, the foliage sticky-glandular with many leaves concentrated at the base while the stems have few, opposite leaves; after flowers are gone they leave calyces resembling small 5-lobed crowns on the ends of the opposite inflorescence branches. Ethnobotany: Unknown, but many uses for other species in the genera. Etymology: Trichostema comes from Greek thrix for hair and stema for stamen, which refers to the long elongate filaments of the genus, while arizonicum means of or from Arizona. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015