Wild Bergamot aka Bee Balm is a plant in the mint family, and is native to North America. The flower is a spiked button shape with colors ranging from very light pink to light purple. The flower sits atop a 3 ft stem and the leaves are lance shaped and toothed. It grows in dry fields and prefers a soil rich in lime as commonly found in limestone areas. It can bloom between late June through early September.
The flower is considered medicinal and was used by Native Americans in a tea to treat the common cold. It is very fragrant with a pleasant spicy scent. There are several varieties in this species and there are close to two dozen species in the parent Monarda Genus.
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Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Tracheophytes
- Sub-Phylum: Angiospermae
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Order: Lamiales
- Family: Lamiaceae
- Subfamily: Nepetioideae
- Tribe: Mentheae
- Sub-Tribe: Menthieae
- Genus: Monarda
- Species: fistulosa
Good places to see this flower in Ohio:
- Open fields across North America, mostly Eastern continent.
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