4. Monarda didyma L.(beebalm, Oswego tea)

Pl. 437 i, j; Map 1970

Plants perennial. Stems 60–150 cm long, unbranched or branched, glabrous or sparsely pubescent with fine, mostly spreading hairs, more densely so around the nodes. Leaves (all but the uppermost) with petioles 10–40 mm long, the largest leaves usually above the stem midpoint. Leaf blades 4–15 cm long, ovate to ovate-triangular, those of the uppermost leaves sometimes lanceolate, broadly angled to more commonly rounded at the base, tapered to a sharply pointed tip, the margins with closely to widely spaced, fine to relatively coarse teeth, also hairy, the upper surface sparsely pubescent with fine, more or less spreading hairs, the undersurface sparsely to moderately pubescent with spreading hairs, especially along the veins. Inflorescences consisting of only 1 terminal flower cluster (rarely 2 on robust plants), the bracts 12–25 mm long, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, the margins entire but hairy, the upper surface glabrous, usually strongly reddish- to purplish-tinged, the undersurface moderately pubescent with short, curved hairs. Innermost bracts 6–14 mm long, mostly linear, the margins hairy. Calyces 10–14 mm long, the outer surface glabrous or sparsely to moderately pubescent with minute, gland-tipped hairs, glabrous or nearly so in the throat, the lobes 1–2 mm long, long-tapered above a very short, triangular base, but lacking a bristlelike extension. Corollas 30–45 mm long, bright red or rarely purplish red, moderately to densely pubescent with minute, curled to spreading, nonglandular hairs on the outer surface, those on the lips often red, also with inconspicuous sessile glands, glabrous or sparsely hairy in the throat, the lips shorter than the tube, the upper lip straight or nearly so, the lower lip more or less entire, with a slender, flangelike 2-toothed extension at the tip. Stamens mostly conspicuously exserted from the corolla. Nutlets 1.6–2.0 mm long, yellowish brown. 2n=36. June–September.

Introduced, known thus far only from a single historical collection from Clay County (Maine to Ohio and Minnesota south to Georgia and Tennessee; Canada; introduced farther west to Iowa and Missouri, also Washington, Oregon). Banks of streams and bottomland forests.

Monarda didyma is cultivated widely for its bright, hummingbird-pollinated flowers and also is popular for use in herbal teas. Steyermark (1963) noted that white- and purple-flowered variants are known in the horticultural trade, but the purple-flowered plants apparently often are the result of cross-breeding with M. fistulosa. Steyermark also reported the species without documentation from Pike and Ralls Counties, but specimens to support these reports could not be located during the present study.