Lamiaceae
Monarda punctata
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Spotted Bee Balm on:
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| Other Names for this Plant |
Dotted horsemint, Dotted Mint
Native to eastern North America from Vermont to southeastern Minnesota, south to Florida and Texas, but missing from most of the Ohio drainage.
This herbaceous perennial is 3 to 10 dm. high and thinly canescent. The leaves are lanceolate or narrowly oblong, 2-8 cm. and more or less hairy. The plant has square stems. The flowers are both terminal and axillary and the stamens do not exsert beyond the strongly arched upper corolla lip. The flowers appear in small, compact, head-like cymes of 2-5 or solitary on depauperate plants. The flowers are tubular, and 13-15 nerved. The corolla is pale yellow, spotted with purple and strongly bilabiate. The upper lip is narrow and entire, and is about as long as the throat and slender tube together. The lower lip is broader.
Like most herbaceous mints, it has opposite leaves and square stems. The stems and leaves are hairy. The leaves are lance shaped with short petioles and toothed margins, and range from 1 to 3 in (2.5-7.6 cm) long. The flowers are small and rather inconspicuous, but arranged in showy heads, 2-7 per stem. Each flower head rests upon a flamboyant palette of pink to lavender leafy bracts. The little corolla is tube shaped and bilaterally symmetrical with two lips, in typical mint fashion. The flower tubes are pale yellow with purple spots, less than an inch long, and protrude from the rounded heads
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What's This?
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Tounge Order (Mints) |
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Main, Real, Two First-Leaves (Dicots) |
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Real, Two First-Leaves (Dicots) |
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Half Capsule Seed Division |
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Magnolia Division |
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Seed Plants |
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Multiple Spore Sub-Kingdom |
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Multicellular Land Plants |
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Cells with a Nucleus |
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Native Americans made a tea from the leaves of spotted horsemint to treat flu, colds, and fever. It increases sweating. Essential oils from horsemint are high in thymol, which is an effective fungicide and bactericide and also used to expel hookworms.
Medicinal Uses: Dotted horsemint was used by the Meskwaki to treat colds and catarrh in a mixture with the leaves of Ranunculus delphinifolius and the disk florets of Helenium autumnale. This plant, along with other plants were ground into a powder and snuffed up the nostrils to relieve a sick headache. Taken with the roots of Asarum canadense, Euphorbia corollata, and Brauneria angustifolia these plants relieved stomach cramps. The Delaware washed patients' faces with an infusion of dotted horsemint to treat skin problems. They also used an infusion of dotted horsemint to reduce fevers. The Mohegan made an infusion of the plant to reduce fevers as well. The Nanticoke used an infusion of the entire plant to treat colds.
Food Uses: Use the leaves as a substitute for oregano. Leaves - raw or cooked. A strong aromatic taste, they are used as a flavouring in salads and cooked foods, and also as an aromatic tea
Spotted Bee Balm
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Spotted Bee Balm
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Spotted Bee Balm, Monarda punctata |
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