Agastache nepetoides explained

Agastache nepetoides, commonly known as yellow giant hyssop,^[1] is a perennial flowering plant native to the central and eastern United States and Canada. It is a member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family.

Description

A. nepetoides is a large plant, growing to NaNfeet tall as an erect stem with few branches. As with other plants in the mint family, the central stem is 4-angled as opposed to round. The stem is also hairless, or glabrous, and winged.^[2] The leaves are thin, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, and measure NaN0NaN0 long and NaN0NaN0 across. They are arranged oppositely on the stem and are coarsely toothed.^[3] The leaves do not have the fragrance usually associated with some other members of the mint family.^[4]

The flowers are greenish-yellow and appear as individual spikes at the end of the central stem and major secondary stems. Each spike is about NaNinches long. Only a few of the densely packed flowers are in bloom at the same time.^[2]

Distribution and habitat

The plant is native in the United States from Nebraska to the west, Georgia to the south, Massachusetts to the east, and the Canadian border to the north. In Canada, it is native in Quebec and Ontario.^[1] Its natural habitat is meadows, lowland woods and thickets, and upland deciduous woods.^[5]

Conservation status in the United States

It is listed as endangered in Connecticut^[6] and Georgia,^[7] and as threatened in New York (state),^[8] Vermont,^[9] and Wisconsin.^[1]

Ecology

The flowers bloom in the late summer and are very attractive to bees.^[10]

Native American ethnobotany

The Iroquois use a compound infusion of plants as a wash for poison ivy and itch.^[11]

Notes and References

1. Web site: USDA Plants Database . plants.usda.gov.
2. Web site: Yellow Giant Hyssop (Agastache nepetoides) . www.illinoiswildflowers.info.
3. Web site: Agastache nepetoides (L.) Kuntze Yellow Giant Hyssop Conservation and Research Plan for New England . Native Plant Trust.
4. Web site: Agastache nepetoides - Plant Finder . www.missouribotanicalgarden.org.
5. Web site: Yellow giant hyssop . Native Plants and Ecosystem Services . en-us.
6. Web site: Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species by Taxonomic Group . CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website . 21 November 2022 . en.
7. Web site: Rare Plants, Animals and Natural Plant Communities of Georgia . georgiabiodiversity.org.
8. Web site: State Protected Plants - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation . www.dec.ny.gov.
9. Web site: Endangered and Threatened Species Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department . vtfishandwildlife.com.
10. Web site: Agastache nepetoides page . www.missouriplants.com.
11. Herrick, James William, 1977, Iroquois Medical Botany, State University of New York, Albany, PhD Thesis, page 422