Monarda clinopodia, commonly known as white bergamot, basil bee balm or white bee balm, is a perennial wildflower in the mint family, Lamiaceae. This species is native to North America, ranging north from New York, west to Missouri, and south to Georgia and Alabama.[1] M. clinopodia has also been introduced into Vermont and Massachusetts.
Monarda clinopodia is a perennial herb, growing in height. Leaves are simple and opposite. Leaf margins have teeth. Leafy bracts white or white-tinged. Corolla is white or pink, dark-spotted, 1.5 – 3 cm long.[2] Flowers are bilateral with four petals, sepals, or tepals in each flower fusing into a cup or tube.[3]
It grows in moist woods, thickets, ravines, and stream-banks. Flowers late June to early September. The plant attracts bees, bumblebees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.[4]
M. clinopodia typically grows in moist woods, thickets, ravines, and stream-banks and may also appear along roadsides.[5] [6]