Monarda
(named after Nicolas Monarda, or Monardes, 1493-1588, a physician and botanist of Seville). Horse Mint. ORD. Labiatae. A genus comprising six or seven species of very ornamental hardy herbaceous perennials, inhabiting North America. Flowers in close heads or whorls, surrounded by bracts; corolla long and slender, deeply bilabiate. Leaves simple, toothed. The species are of very easy culture in ordinary soil, and in any position but a too shady one. Monardas may be readily increased in autumn by division of the roots. They have a more telling effect when planted in masses, than as small specimens, in mixed borders.
M. affinis (related). A synonym of M. fistulosa.
M. allophylla (different-leaved). A synonym of M. fistulosa. M. altissima (very lofty). A synonym of M. fistulosa. M. amplexicaulis (stem-clasping). A synonym of M. Bradburiana. M. aristata (awned). A synonym of M. clinopodioides. M. Bradburiana (Bradbury's). fl. white, pink, with reddish bracts; calyx hirsute, and somewhat contracted at the orifice, its teeth elongated and aristiform; corolla tube not exceeding the long and narrow, pubescent upper lip. June. l. ovate or ovate-lanceolate, from a broad roundish or sub-cordate base, acuminate. h. 2ft. 1850. SYN. M. amplexicaulis. (B. M. 3310, under name of M. fistulosa flore-maculata.) M. clinopodioides (Clinopodium-like). fl., bracts of the rather small heads mostly green or greenish, erect, oblong-ovate to obovate-lanceolate, rigid, strongly three to five-nerved, hispidciliate; calyx-teeth erect, rigid, aristiform-attenuate; tube purplish, hirsute; throat densely villous. Stem slender, 1ft. or more high. SYN. M. aristata (under which name it is figured in B. M. 3526).
M. didyma (twin).* Oswego Tea. fl. bright scarlet; whorls solitary or twin, supported by a leafy bract, the leaflets being of a pale green colour, tinted with red. July to September. l. petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, acuminated, roundly sub-cordate at the base, rather hispid on both surfaces. Stem square, grooved, hard. h. 1 1/2ft. 1656. SYNS. M. fistulosa, M. Kalmiana. (B. M. 145.)(B. M. 546.) M. fistulosa (fistular).* Wild Bergamot. fl. purple, less numerous than in M. didyma, and mostly produced in single heads; bracts tinted with purple. Summer. l. petiolate, ovate-lanceolate, roundly sub-cordate at the base. Stems fistular or filled. h. 2ft. to 5ft. 1656. This species has several varieties. SYNS. M. affinis, M. allophylla, M. altissima, M. longifolia, M. oblongata. M. fistulosa (fistular), of Sims. A synonym of M. didyma. M. f. flore-maculata (spotted-flowered). A synonym of M. Bradburiana. M. f. media (intermediate). fl., corolla deep purple. SYNS. M. media (S. B. F. G. 98), M. purpurea (L. B. C. 1396).
M. f. mollis (soft). fl., corolla varying from flesh colour to lilac, glandular, and its upper lip hairy outside, or more bearded at the tip. l. paler, soft, pubescent beneath, often shorter petioled. SYNS. M. Lindheimeri, M. menthoefolia (B. M. 2958), M. mollis, M. scabra.
M. f. rubra (red). fl., corolla bright crimson or rose-red. SYN. M. purpurea. M. Kalmiana (Kalm's). A synonym of M. didyma.
M. Lindheimeri (Lindheimer's). A synonym of M. fistulosa mollis. M. longifolia (long-leaved). A synonym of M. fistulosa. M. lutea (yellow). A synonym of M. punctata.
M. media (intermediate). A synonym of M. fistulosa media. M. menthaefolia (Mentha-leaved). A synonym of M. fistulosa mollis. M. mollis (soft). A synonym of M. fistulosa mollis.
M. oblongata (oblong). A synonym of M. fistulosa.
M. punctata (dotted). fl., calyx-teeth spreading, hardly longer than the width of the villous orifice of the tube; floral leaves and bracts whitened or purplish, or both, often slender-acuminate. Summer. Stem usually 2ft. high. SYN. M. lutea. (A. B. R. 546; B. R. 87.) M. purpurea (purple), of Loddiges. A synonym of M. fistulosa rubra. M. purpurea (purple), of Pursh. A synonym of M. fistulosa media. M. Russellianum (Russell's). fl. pale, veined with purple; bracts purplish. July to September. l. nearly sessile, lanceolate, roundly sub-cordate at the base, ciliated on the edges. Stem glabrous or ciliated on the angles. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1823. (B. M. 2513; H. E. F. 130; S. B. F. G. 166.) M. scabra (rough). A synonym of M. fistulosa mollis.