SPOTTED BEEBALM | 
Monarda punctata Linnaeus 
Spotted beebalm is one of the most beautiful membets of the Mint 
Family. The delicate combination of color in its flowets is quite un- 
like the colots exhibited by most of its relatives. The plant has a 
strong flavor and scent, somewhat resembling that of mint but closer 
to that of thyme. It contains, in fact, so much of the valuable drug 
thymol that attempts have been made to grow it as a soutce of this 
substance. It grows mostly in dry, sterile, and often acid, soils, being 
found in the Southern States in pine woods, though in the West 
it is frequent on prairies. It is sometimes called horsemint. 
Spotted beebalm is distributed from Florida to Texas and Kansas 
and northward to southern New York and Minnesota. 
The specimen sketched was obtained neat Washington, District 
of Columbia, where it blooms throughout late summer. 
PLATE 233 
