Pycnanthemum muticum - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Lamiaceae
Habitat
Moist to somewhat dry woods and meadows.
Associates
Distribution
MA and VT to MI and MO, south to FL and LA
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial; stems to 1 m, short-hairy, branched mainly above; leaves oblong or lance-oblong to lance-ovate, glabrous, obscurely serrulate or with a few low teeth, acute or acuminate, rounded at the base, the main ones 4-7 cm long and 1.2-3.0 cm wide, on petioles 1-3 mm; leaves subtending the heads smaller and proportionately wider, velvety above and glabrous below; heads dense, hemispheric, 8-15 mm wide; bracts narrowly lanceolate, acuminate, hairy; calyx densely short-hairy with triangular lobes 0.5-1.5 mm.
Notes
Flowers July to August
Wetland indicator: FAC
Might be confused with P. incanum which has a less congested inflorescence with many of the branches (especially the lower ones) visible, especially in fruit, and the calyx zygomorphic (the upper lip shorter than the lower lip). Also similar to P. verticillatum but with wider leaves (mostly 1.2-3.0 cm wide vs. 0.3-1.2 cm wide).
Pycnanthemum montanum Michx., which occurs from NC and TN to GA, is a rare, closely related species which has bracts long-ciliate but otherwise glabrous or nearly so (vs. finely puberulent across the upper surface and not ciliate).
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY.
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Michael Hough © 2018 |