Hyptis alata (Raf.) Shinners

Clustered Bushmint; Musky Mint

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Clustered Bushmint is a native herbaceous perennial in the Mint family (Lamiaceae). It is native to the southern half of Alabama. Clustered Bushmint occurs in bogs, in seeps, in wet pine savannahs, on pond and lake margins, on stream banks, and on marshy roadsides. It is a perennial from a hardened caudex. The stems are 3-5 feet in height, usually unbranched, square in cross section, hollow and pithy within, green in color, with scattered sessile glands, and pubescent. Leaves are opposite, petiolate, lanceolate to linear- or rhombic-lanceolate in outline, nearly glabrous or pubescent with scattered short hairs and scattered sunken sessile glands, with irregularly serrate to nearly entire margins. All parts of the plant emit a musty odor when damaged. Flowers are produced in heads from the axils of the upper leaves. The heads are on long peduncles. The corolla is strongly 2-lipped, white in color, with small purple spots. The fruit is a nutlet. Clustered Bushmint flowers attract a wide range of bee species. It is sometimes available from native plant nurseries. Clustered Bushmint prefers a wet soil that is high in organic matter and full sun.—A. Diamond

**

Native OBL (NWPL)

**