LABIATAE 
FALSE DRAGONHEAD 
Physostegia virginiana (L.) Benth. 
MINT FAMILY 
Not all members of this family look like Mints. Externally 
the False Dragonhead, for example, reminds one of the Fig- 
wort rather than the Mint family. Examination of the ovary, 
however, will always serve 
to distinguish flowers of 
these two families, for in 
Mints the ovary is always 
4-lobed or 4-parted and 
the fruit that develops 
from it consists of 4 nut- 
lets, whereas in the Fig- 
wort family the ovary is 
unlobed and the fruit is 
a capsule. 
The False Dragonhead 
grows in wet ground from 
Quebec to Ontario and 
Minnesota, south to Florida 
and Texas. It blooms from 
June or July to September 
and often forms conspicu- 
ous, usually small, patches 
of color along railroads, 
since it spreads by slender 
underground stems. This 
plant is frequently culti- 
vated in gardens. 
The rather stout stem 
grows 1-4 feet high. The firm leaves, in varied lanceolate forms, 
are sharply serrate, narrowed at the base and acuminate at the 
apex. The upper are sessile and the lowest petioled. The bracts 
beneath the flowers are lanceolate and shorter than the calyx. 
A dense spike terminates the stem, bearing many pale purple 
or rose flowers, often variegated with white. In flower the calyx 
is cup shaped and the ovate-acute teeth are half as long as the 
tube; in fruit it is oblong, not quite one-half inch long, and the 
teeth are much shorter than the tube. The corolla 2-lipped and 
1 inch long or more. 
