The leaves of mintleaf beebalm, a perennial weed have a taste strongly sug- 

 gestive of sage ; in fact, Monarda is closely related to the genus Salvia, which 

 embraces the true cultivated sages. The specific name, menthaefolia, is an 

 adjective derived from the generic name of mint, Mentha, and folium, leaf 

 hence mintleaf. Mintleaf beebalm ranges from Illinois and Texas westward to 

 Arizona, Idaho, and Alberta. It occurs over a considerable altitudinal range, 

 from lower elevations in the sagebrush belt to the lower limits of the spruce- 

 fir belt, chiefly on rich, moist soils in weed, brush, and aspen types. This 

 species is common in bottomlands, along streams, and in the vicinity of 

 springs and seeps and is often locally abundant. 



Mintleaf beebalm is poor to fair forage for cattle, and fairly good forage 

 for sheep and goats. There is evidence also that it is of some value as deer 

 and elk forage. The wide distribution, common occurrence, and local abun- 

 dance, combined with the large amount of foliage produced and the reasonably 

 good palatability, make it a fairly valuable range plant. Although not unduly 

 aggressive, this species withstands grazing very well and, on the whole, is 

 one of the more valuable, secondary range weeds. The present tendency of 

 the more conservative botanists is to regard M. oomdta and M. scdftra, of the 

 western manuals as forms of mintleaf beebalm rather than as distinct species. 



BEEBALMS (Monar'da spp.) 



Monarda, a member of the mint family (Menthaceae), is a North American 

 genus of about 12 species of annual or perennial herbs. The western and many 

 of the eastern species are perhaps most commonly known as horsemint ; this 

 name, however, is widely used for members of the genus Agastache and probably 

 should be restricted to that genus. Other names applied to species of Monarda 

 are lemon-mint and wildbergamot, the latter being employed chiefly in the 

 East. The true bergamot, source of the commercial oil of bergamot, is Cittrm 

 tergamia, a species closely related to the orange. Monarda, is named after 

 Nicolas Monardes, a Spanish physician and botanist. Nine species commonly 

 occur in the West, principally in the Rocky Mountains, the genus apparently 

 not being represented in the Pacific States. 



The beebalms are widely distributed within their range, and are common and 

 often locally abundant, chiefly in moist soils. Their palatability apparently 

 varies both with the species, and, to some extent, with local conditions. In 

 general, the palatability is poor to fair for cattle and fair to fairly good for 

 sheep and goats. Horses make only incidental use of these plants and, al- 

 though game animals undoubtedly crop them, they are not important game feed 

 under normal conditions. Some species are practically worthless as forage. 



The beebalms are recognized as members of the mint family by their four- 

 angled stems, opposite leaves, and the fruits, which consist of four small nut- 

 lets included within the persistent outer flower parts (calyx). They may be 

 distinguished from other members in this family by the strongly two-lipped 

 corolla, only two anther-bearing, usually exserted stamens, and the fifteen- 

 ribbed, nearly equally five-toothed, elongated calyx usually hairy in the throat. 

 The leaves are gland-dotted and more or less aromatic, and the rather large, 

 usually brightly colored flowersi are borne in dense terminal clusters (heads) 

 mostly surrounded by leafy bracts or, in some species, additional flower clusters 

 appear in the upper leaf axils. 



The volatile oil present in Monarda yields, in the case of both spotted bee- 

 balm (M. pwnctu'ta) and Oswego beebalm (M. di'dyma), also called Oswego 

 tea, the valuable antiseptic drug, thymol, although Thymus vulffaris, also a 

 member of the mint family, is the usual source of supply. 12 It is possible 

 that the olosely related pony beebalm (M. pectww'ta) of the West also con- 

 tains this drug. Several species are grown commercially as ornamentals, in- 

 cluding Oswego beebalm, one of the most brilliant of native American flowers. 



1 Wood, H. C., Remington, J. P., and Sadtler, S. P., assisted by Lyons, A. B., and 



WOOd, H. C., Jr. THE DISPENSATORY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BY DR. GEO. 



B. WOOD AND DR. FRANKLIN BACHE. Ed. 19, thoroughly rev. and largely rewritten 

 . . . 1,947 pp. Philadelphia and London. 1907. 



1 Hoofl. S. C. COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF THYMOL FROM HORSEMINT (MONARDA PUNC- 



TATA). U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 372, 12 pp. 1916. 



