MINT FAMILY LABIATAE 
WATER HOREHOUND 
Lycopus americanus Muhl. 
Members of this genus are practically without odor. 
The Water Horehound is common in wet soil nearly through- 
out the continent. It is perennial by suckers and produces stiff 
erect shoots that grow 1-2 feet high. 
The lower leaves are deeply and 
sharply cut and lobed, and the 
upper are as shown. 
The small white flowers are 
whorled in dense axillary clusters and 
bloom from June to October. The 
bell-shaped calyx has 5 sharp stiff 
teeth of equal length. One of the 4 
corolla lobes is broader than the 
others and slightly notched at the tip. 
Two perfect stamens extend beyond. 
the corolla tube and 2 little rudi- 
mentary stamens are included within 
the tube. The ovary is deeply 4- 
parted and the slender style is 2-cleft 
at the top. The nutlets are smooth, 
slightly triangular and much shorter 
than the calyx. 
The Bugle Weed, Lycopus virgini- 
cus L., is a not uncommon species in 
this state. It grows in wet woodlands | 
from New Hampshire to Nebraska, 
south to Florida and Missouri. The 
slender stems are 6-24 inches high and 
give off long threadlike leafy stolons. 
The ovate or ovate-lanceolate leaves 
| are merely sharply toothed. The pale 
purple or white flowers bloom from July to September. The calyx 
is usually only 4-toothed and the corolla is twice as long as the calyx 
or even longer. The nutlets are slightly longer than the calyx. 
The Stalked Water Horehound, Lycopus rubellus Moench, is much 
like the Bugle Weed in habitat, range, and characteristics of stems 
and leaves. This is the taller plant, however, growing 1-3 feet high, 
and its blooming season lasts into October. It rarely has runners such 
as in L. virginicus; if it has they are short. The Stalked Water Hore- 
hound has long triangular sharp-pointed calyx teeth and the nutlets 
are much shorter than the calyx. 
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