Virginia mountain mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum
Summary 3
Pycnanthemum virginianum (Virginia mountain mint) is a plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is a herbaceous plant with narrow, opposite, simple leaves, on wiry, green stems. The flowers are white with purplish spotting, borne in summer. Like most plants in the genus, the foliage has a strong mint fragrance when crushed or disturbed. It is native to the eastern United States.
Comments 4
The name 'Mountain Mint' is something of a misnomer, because this plant and the majority of other members in this genus do not usually occur in mountainous habitats. Common Mountain Mint is similar in appearance to Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (Slender Mountain Mint). It can be distinguished from the latter species by the white hairs along the ridges of its stems, and the occurrence of leaves greater than ¼" across. Another difference is the presence of a strong mint fragrance in the crushed leaves of Common Mountain Mint, while the leaves of Slender Mountain Mint usually have a milder scent. Return
Sources and Credits
- anonymous, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://plants.usda.gov/gallery/large/kovi3_001_lvd.jpg
- (c) Erin Faulkner, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Erin Faulkner
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pycnanthemum_virginianum
- (c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29442636
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- Go Botany
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- Maryland Biodiversity Project
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- USDA PLANTS database
- VASCAN by Canadensys
- World Flora Online
