hairy wood mint

not listed

N5? - Secure

SNR - Unranked

not listed

FACU - Facultative upland

FACU - Facultative upland

FACU - Facultative upland

Hairy wood mint is native in the United States from Connecticut to Minnesota, south to Florida, northern Alabama, and Kansas, and in Quebec and Ontario, Canada. In Minnesota it is common in the driftless area in the southeast, where it is at the western extent of its native range; uncommon in the Metro area, where it is introduced; and absent in the remainder of the state. The sole record in Cook County is historical. Hairy wood mint is found in moist bottomland forests, moderately moist upland forests, at the bases of bluffs, on the banks of streams and rivers, and along railroads and roadsides. It grows under partial sun to light shade in loamy, moist to moderately moist soil.

Hairy wood mint is a 16″ to 47″ tall, erect, perennial forb that rises on one or more aerial stems from a slender, underground, horizontal stem (rhizome) and fibrous roots.

The stems are sharply four-angled and unbranched or sparingly branched. Sometimes they develop a few ascending branches late in the growing season. They are moderately to densely covered with fine, white, long and short hairs. The long hairs are mostly spreading, 1⁄32″ to 1⁄16″ (1 to 2 mm) long, and denser toward the tip of the stem. The short hairs are downward curved, 1⁄64″ to 1⁄32″ (0.5 to 1.0 mm) long, and denser toward the base of the stem.

The leaves are opposite and narrowly to broadly egg-shaped. The main leaves are 19⁄16″ to 3⅛″ (4 to 8 cm) long and up to 1½″ wide. They are on hairy, ⅜″ to 13⁄16″ (1 to 3 cm) long leaf stalks (petioles). They are usually broadly angled to rounded, sometimes shallowly heart-shaped at the base, and are angled or tapered to a sharp point at the tip. The upper surface may be hairless or sparsely covered with short fine hairs, rarely also with scattered longer hairs. The lower surface is sparsely to moderately covered with short fine hairs, sometimes also with longer hairs along the veins. The margins are finely toothed. There is often a pair of much smaller leaves rising from the point where the petiole attaches to the stem (axil).

The inflorescence is a spike of 1 to 5 densely crowded, noticeably separated, head-like clusters of small flowers at the end of the stem and branches, and single similar clusters in the upper leaf axils. Each cluster in the terminal spike is subtended by a pair of sometimes inconspicuous modified leaves (bracts). Each flower is subtended by a pair of ¼″ to ⅜″ (6 to 10 mm) long, lance-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped bractlets.

The flowers are 5⁄16″ to ½″ (8 to 12 mm) long. There are 5 outer floral leaves (sepals), 5 petals, 2 stamens, and 1 style. The sepals are green and ⅛″ to ¼″ (4 to 7 mm) long. They are fused at the base into a short tube then separated into 5 narrowly triangular to nearly linear lobes. The upper lobes are longer than the lower lobes. The bractlets and sepals have long spreading hairs on the margins. The petals are white and may be slightly tinged with blue. They are united at the base into a floral tube then separated into 2 lips. The outer surface is moderately to densely hairy. The upper lip is spreading or slightly curved backwards and has 2 shallow lobes. The lower lip is straight or slightly spreading, has 3 lobes, and has numerous small purple spots. The stamens protrude from the corolla at maturity. The style has 2 lobes at the tip and also protrudes from the corolla at maturity.

The fruit (schizocarp) develops from the dried ovary and splits into 4 egg-shaped, tan to reddish-brown nutlets.

16″ to 47″

White

Moist to moderately moist. Bottomland and upland forests, bluff bases, stream banks, railroads, roadsides. Partial sun to light shade. Loamy soil.

May to August

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

Native

Common

There are two varieties of Blephilia hirsuta. B. h. var. hirsuta has hairy stems and leaves, B. h. var. glabra has hairless (glabrous) stems and leaves. B. h. var. glabra is restricted to Vermont. It was last collected in 1898, and it is now presumed to be extinct. Currently, mosty sources do not list any varieties.

First time seeing this plant. A couple of these plants popped up in an area this summer. Fairly sunny and dry (everything was dry this summer).

Plant

Inflorescence

Leaves

Location: Lake Shore

First time seeing this plant. A couple of these plants popped up in an area this summer. Fairly sunny and dry (everything was dry this summer).