Physostegia angustifolia Fernald

Narrowleaf Obedient Plant; Narrowleaf False Dragonhead; Triangle Lion's Heart

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Narrowleaf Obedient Plant is a native herbaceous perennial in the Mint family (Lamiaceae). It is native to the Black Belt region of central Alabama and adjacent areas underlain by limestone. Narrowleaf Obedient Plant occurs in prairies, along streams, in cedar glades, and in roadside ditches. It is a perennial with a short erect caudex and short lateral rhizomes. Stems are erect, unbranched below the inflorescence, 3-5 feet in height, green in color, glabrous, and 4-angled. Leaves are opposite, sessile and clasping the stem, lanceolate in outline, glabrous, and sharply serrate. Flowers are produced in terminal racemes. The axis of the raceme is densely pubescent. The calyx is green and 5 lobed. The corolla is 2-lipped. The upper lip is un-lobed; the lower lip is 3-lobed. The corolla is pale pink to white with spots of purple on the lower corolla lobes and faint purple lines within. The fruit is a 3-angled nutlet. Narrowleaf Obedient Plant is available from some native plant nurseries. It prefers a moist clayey soil in full sun. Members of this genus are commonly called obedient plants because individual flowers will temporarily remain in a new position if reoriented.—A. Diamond

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Native

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