Sunday, August 21, 2011

Mystery Weed from Yesterday

Georgia spotted this plant growing in the weeds at the edge of the harbor.  It has long stalks with whorled leaves, and the upper leaves that surround the flowers and flower buds are colored purplish pink, while the flowers themselves are dark yellow and spotted with purplish brown (if that makes sense) and resemble some orchid flowers.  It's about a foot tall now, and still growing up.

It's a fairly attractive plant, so I would guess it has escaped cultivation.  Neither Georgia or I had ever seen it before, though, so it can't be terribly common.



Does anyone have any idea what this might be?

2 comments:

  1. I'm guessing it's Monarda punctata, AKA spotted beebalm, spotted horsemint, or horsemint. Pretty.

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  2. Thanks Pam, that seems to be an excellent match!

    http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/sp_balm.htm

    If so, it both a native weed, and a cultivated garden plant. According to most of the pictures I looked at, the yellow flowers I found are not typical. White or creamy appears to be the common color.

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