Simple or branched perennial to 1 m, the stems glabrous or sparsely hairy; lvs ovate to lance-deltoid, 6-12 cm, acuminate, serrate, obtuse or more often rounded at base, the main ones usually ovate and twice as long as wide; petioles 1-3 cm; heads 1.3-3 cm thick (excluding cors); bracts lanceolate, largely green but often whitish or anthocyanic toward the base; fls fragrant, entomophilous; cal-tube glabrous or minutely puberulent, or villous either outside or inside at the summit, the hairs when present quite unlike those of no. 2 [Monarda fistulosa L.]; cal-lobes glandular; cor white or ochroleucous, 1.5-3 cm, the upper lip slender, nearly straight, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. Woods and thickets; Conn. to O., Ill., and Mo., s. to N.C. and Ala. June, July. Intergrades with no. 2 [Monarda fistulosa L.].

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

Infrequent in a few of the southern counties. It is usually found in dry, white and black oak woods and less frequently in beech woods. The flowers are generally white or yellowish white.

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Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = 7

Wetland Indicator Status: FACU