Pycnanthemum californicum

California mint

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California mint is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, northern Sacramento Valley, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Modoc Plateau in moist sites, chaparral, oak woodland, and conifer forest at elevations of 500 to 1,900 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces white flowers with distinctive purple or violet spots on the lower lip, arranged in 2 to 5 head-like clusters. Growing with erect stems 50 to 130 centimeters tall that range from smooth to densely hairy, it forms a robust and aromatic herb. Its leaves are ovate to widely lance-shaped, 2.5 to 7.5 centimeters long, with entire or finely toothed edges and a slightly rounded base, typically covered in a soft, woolly texture. The plant's densely hairy flower calyces and distinctively spotted white and purple flowers make it a striking component of its native habitats.

Habitat: Moist sites, chaparral, oak woodland, conifer forest

Bloom period: Jun-Sep

Elevation: 500-1900 m

Bioregions: KR, n NCoR, CaR, SN, n ScV, TR, PR, MP.

California counties: Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, Trinity, Humboldt, Siskiyou, Amador, El Dorado, Shasta, Fresno, Placer, Plumas, San Diego, Tuolumne, Merced, Madera, Mariposa, Butte, Sierra, Yuba, Tehama

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.