Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Monarda didyma
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Scarlet Beebalm at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
McClintock & Epling (1942) describe two forms of M. didyma: the [more northern] "broad-leaved form", with leaves averaging 9.2cm x 5.2cm and corollas averaging 35mm long, and the "narrow-leaved form", with leaves averaging 11.8cm x 4.4cm and corollas averaging 39mm long, occurring throughout the range of the species, per Weakley's Flora (2022)
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Monarda didyma
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-23-001:
Monarda didyma FAMILY Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH A review of the genus Monarda (Labiatae) (McClintock & Epling, 1942)
Monarda didyma
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Monarda didyma
COMMON NAME:
Scarlet Beebalm, Oswego Tea
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_modi_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0305o_20
May Haywood County NC
Corneille Bryan Native Garden
Leaves ovate to deltoid-ovate to lanceolate, serrate, base nearly rounded, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Craig Myers cam_red
July NC-TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Monarda was widely used as a source of tea after the Boston Tea Party, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
)
Gill Newberry gn07_m_didyma_plants
July
)
Gill Newberry gn07_monard_didyma_inf
July
Showy reddish bracts, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm200717_6654
July Jackson County NC
Nantahala National Forest
)
Keith Bradley kab_monarda_didyma_2208
July Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Keith Bradley kab_monarda_didyma_2226
July Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_m_didyma_72306_2
July Towns-Union Counties GA
Brasstown Bald
)
JK Marlow jkm0308v_11
August Haywood County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Pollinator at work.
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmmdidyma_brp90
Month Unknown NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Corolla odorless, upper lip nearly straight, with no obvious tuft of hairs, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Tim Spira tpsmdidyma
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Monarda didyma
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Monarda didyma
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-23-001:
Monarda didyma
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
A review of the genus Monarda (Labiatae) (McClintock & Epling, 1942)
Monarda didyma
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Monarda didyma
942
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: seepage slopes, periglacial boulderfields with abundant seepage, streambanks, boggy places, usually in strong to moderately filtered sunlight, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Mountains of the Carolinas & Georgia, and to the NC Piedmont
Common in NC Mountains, rare or waifs elsewhere in GA-NC-SC
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
Leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Scarlet-red
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-toothed calyx
2-lipped tubular corolla
2 exserted stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Schizocarp of mericarps
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p205
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p151
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p151
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p114
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p092
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p324
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p082
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p218
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p237
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p223
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p264
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p406
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p140
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