Purple Bergamot

(Monarda media)

 

Color photograph: copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

Purple Bergamot (Monarda media)

Identification: Flowers purple, large, tubular, and arched. Lower petal lobe broad, biblike with a thin, rectangular appendage at its apex. Upper petal lobe arched, narrow, containing the protruding stamens. Flowers in a rounded, apical cluster, with a whorl of purplish bracts at the base. Stem square. Leaves in opposite pairs, broad at the base, tapering toward the apex.. Outer margin weakly toothed. Plant 2 to 3 feet in height.

Distribution: Illinois in the west to New England in the east, southward to Georgia and Alabama.

Habitat: Purple Bergamot is typically found in wet thickets and along river and lake shores.

Flowering period: July to August.

Purple Bergamot (Monarda media)

Similar Species:

The purple flowers easily identify this species of Monarda.

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

 

 Similar Species