HDint Ifamil?. 



Bee Balm. Monarda didyma. 



Oswego Tea. 



Found in July (but occasionally later in the season also), in the 

 shade of moist woods, frequently near water. 



The stalk grows from 1 to 2 feet high, and is noticeably square ; it 

 is juicy, hairy and rough to the touch. In color, light green, with a red 

 ring at the joints. 



The leaf is oval, broad at the base, and tapering to a long, sharp 

 point, many ribbed, with its margin coarsely notched, and rough with 

 hairs ; green in color. The leaves, on short, hairy, red stems, grow in 

 pairs, which are at alternate angles with each other. 



The conspicuous flower is tubular, very small at the base, spreading 

 wide in the throat, and 2-lipped ; the upper lip is very narrow, sharp- 

 pointed, and curving, the lower lip is larger, spreading, and often 2, 

 cleft ; the texture is fine and delicate. The pistil and 2 long, slender 

 stamens protrude from under the tip of the upper lip, and, like the 

 corolla, are colored a full, glowing red. The small calyx, witt its round, 

 narrow-throated, and 5-pointed tube, is of a papery texture, and finely 

 grooved ; in color it is a duller and darker red than the corolla. The 

 flowers are set in a large terminal head, that is surrounded by a row of 

 drooping, oval, smooth, red leaf -like bracts. 



These bracts, while bright in color, do not possess the rich fullness 

 of hue which belongs to the flowers themselves ; just beneath them u 

 pair of stalk-leaves crowd up close, and are each adorned with a dash 

 of scarlet, as though the dye had spilled over from the blossoms. The 

 buds open in the center of the head first, and continue blooming in 

 rings, outward. Not even the Cardinal Flower produces a more vivid 

 effect than a group of these brilliant flowers, standing beside a pool of 

 dark water, in the heavy shade of forest trees. 



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