Monarda punctata

Perennial; stems 3-10 dm, thinly canescent; lvs lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 2-8 cm, ±hairy; glomerules 2-5, or solitary on depauperate plants, the bracts lanceolate to ovate, much exceeding the cal, spreading or reflexed, often pale green to nearly white, or purple-tinged; cal 5-9 mm, densely villous in the throat, ±villous or hirsute externally at the summit, the lobes 1-1.5 mm; cor pale yellow, spotted with purple, 1.5-2.5 cm, the strongly arched upper lip about as long as the throat and slender tube together; 2n=22. Dry, especially sandy soil; Vt. to se. Minn., s. to Fla. and Tex., but missing from most of the Ohio drainage. Var. punctata, with the stem pubescent with short recurved hairs and with the lvs glabrous to minutely puberulent beneath, the hairs not concealing the glands, occurs from N.J. to Fla. and Tex., chiefly on the coastal plain in our range. Var. villicaulis Pennell, with the hairs of the stem longer and more spreading, and with the lvs densely hairy beneath, the hairs concealing the glands, occurs from Mich. to e. Minn., s. to Ill. and Mo., and also near Lake Champlain in Vt. and N.Y.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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