MINT FAMILY 



WILD BURGAMOT 



Mondrda fistiddsa 



Perennial. Native. Growing in tufts and bunches 

 and bearing many pale lavender two-lipped flowers in 

 terminal heads. New England, Ontario, and Minnesota 

 and south to Georgia. June-September. 



Stem. — Slender, two to three feet high, square, rough, 

 branched, each surmounted with one or more flower- 

 heads. 



Leaves. — Opposite, ovate or lanceolate, serrate, acute 

 or acuminate, petioled, aromatic. 



Flowers. — Clustered in a solitary terminal head; vari- 

 able in color, mostly pale lilac or lavender, sometimes 

 cream-white. 



Calyx. — Tubular, narrow, five-toothed, hairy within; 

 bracts whitish or purplish. 



Corolla. — Inch to inch and a half long, two-lipped, upper 

 lip erect; lower lip spreading, three-lobed, middle lobe 

 longest. 



Stamens. — Two, inserted in the throat of the corolla 

 and protruding. 



Pistil. — Ovary four-lobed; style two-cleft at apex. 



Fruit. — Four nutlets. 



Pollinated by bees and butterflies. Nectar-bearing. 



Wild Burgamot is a western rather than an eastern 

 species, though found throughout New England. In 

 northern Ohio it appears in such abundance as fre- 

 quently to cover neglected fields with a pale lavender 

 mist. The character of the flower-head producing but 

 few flowers at a time materially lengthens the bloom- 

 ing period. 



The plant grows in tufts with many slender stems 

 i86 



