Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Lamiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Narrowleaf Mountain-mint at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
The genus name is based on Greek words for “dense” and “flower.” The specific epithet is from the Latin for “slender leaved.” Read more at "Know Your Natives" from the Arkansas Native Plant Society.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-28-001:
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium FAMILY Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED) Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Pycnanthemum flexuosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED) A study of Pycnanthemum (Labiatae) (Grant & Epling, 1943)
Pycnanthemum flexuosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Koellia flexuosa
COMMON NAME:
Narrowleaf Mountain-mint, Slender Mountain-mint, Savanna Mountain-mint
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_kofl_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0506m_02
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
Leaves linear, 1-2" long, about 1/8" wide, nearly sessile, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm0506m_04
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
Terminal flat-topped clusters of very small heads of tightly packed flower, per All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm0506m_07
June Union County SC
Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_tenuifolium_3
June
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_062421hayesville32
June Clay County NC
)
John B. Nelson jbn_3735162320_28992f1fa4
July Carroll County VA
Pollinator at work.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 164-28-001:
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
FAMILY
Lamiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Pycnanthemum flexuosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
A study of Pycnanthemum (Labiatae) (Grant & Epling, 1943)
Pycnanthemum flexuosum
SYNONYMOUS WITH (MISAPPLIED)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Koellia flexuosa
1175
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: bogs, wet meadows, moist to wet forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in GA Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite
FLOWER:
Summer
White/Pinkish
Bilaterally symmetrical
5-toothed calyx
2-lipped 4-lobed corolla
4 stamens, usually exserted
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Schizocarp of mericarps
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- All About South Carolina Wildflowers (Midgley, 1999) p234
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p163
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p163
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p078
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p189
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p241
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p225
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p268
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p141
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p125
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".