520 
HORSEMINT 
Texas horsemint. 
general opinion that it has a little too 
strong a flavor. 
Since horsemint yields an essential oil, 
from which thymol, a powerful antiseptic 
used in dressing unhealthy wounds can be 
obtained, it became economically important 
during the Great War. In Texas it has 
been cultivated in several localities for six 
or seven years, but the surplus of honey 
obtained did not pay expenses. The foliage 
was usually attacked by a purple rust 
which killed the plants. It is the practice 
to break up the soil of an old field with a 
disc harrow and sow the seed about the 
middle of August. If there are a few fall 
rains there will be an abundant growth of 
horsemint the following year. After the 
seed has ripened, if the soil is again har¬ 
rowed, another crop will be assured. 
In the Black Prairie region of Texas 
lemon mint ( Monarda citriodora), an an¬ 
nual with pink or nearly white flowers, is 
abundant. In localities, where there is 
much lime in the soil, the flowers are bright 
red. The corolla-tube is about the same 
length as that of the preceding species 
and the nectar is readily reached by honey¬ 
bees. M. clinopodioides is also very com¬ 
mon on the dry plains of Texas. The 
form of the flower and the time of bloom¬ 
ing are nearly the same as in M. punctata. 
There are also several other species of 
horsemint growing in Texas the nectar of 
which can be easily gathered by honey¬ 
bees. 
But a part of the species of this genus 
have long corolla-tubes and are adapted 
to insects with a much longer tongue than 
the honeybee, so that even if common they 
are of little value to the apiarist. Brad¬ 
bury’s Monarda (M. bradburiana ) occurs 
on dry hills in Illinois, Missouri, and Kan- 
