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Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Guide to Native Plants of Georgia for Wildlife < Monarda punctata
Spotted Horsemint is a unique American herb that deserves a spot in the garden. It is tough and drought-tolerant, with a sweet scent, oregano-like taste, ornamental value, and great potential for wildlife. It has all the characteristics of the popular herb garden plants like oregano, sage, and various mints but differs in being native to North America. Like other Beebalms, Spotted Beebalm makes an excellent tea by itself or in tandem with other herbs, and it also works well as a spice and can substitute for oregano.
Horsemint performs much better in sun and drought than non-native mints which tend to favor moisture and shade (spearmint, peppermint) and may even be aggressive in smaller, more formal gardens. Plant in clay containers to contain the spreading root systems, and pinch back the plants if this becomes an issue. Otherwise, Spotted Horsemint is a carefree garden plant and great to try for gardeners bored to tears from growing the same herbs year after year. Make sure to keep a lookout for the caterpillar and adult form of the Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly!
Lamiaceae (Mint)
Spotted Horsemint is an upright, herbaceous perennial mint with opposite leaves and square stems. It may become woody, shrubby, and multi-branched with age. Stems and leaves are hairy. Leaves are lance-shaped with short petioles and toothed margins, 1-3” long. Individual flowers are small, bilaterally symmetrical, and arranged in 2-7 showy round whorls at the terminal ends of the stems. Flowers are yellowish, spotted with purple, and rest upon deeply pink to purplish leafy bracts. Leaves smell like oregano when crushed.
3-4’ tall
An upright perennial herb
Fast
Full to partial sun
Spotted horsemint is drought tolerant, but it will flower more profusely if given water during dry periods. It requires little maintenance and readily self-seeds in almost any sunny, well-drained location.
Assets include the purplish bracts around the flower heads, which are very distinct from other plants, the butterfly-attracting flowers, and the overall tolerance and reseeding qualities of the plant.
Spotted horsemint is perfect for the wild or meadow garden and for attracting butterflies. It looks best in mass plantings, clumps, or allowed to self-seed in a natural area. Spotted horsemint is very tolerant of salt spray for those on the coast, and the showy purple bracts are attractive from late summer until first frost.
Spotted Horsemint is native to eastern North America from Vermont to Minnesota and south to Florida, eastern Texas and Mexico. It grows on road shoulders, in old fields and thin woods, and in disturbed areas. It favors sandy and dry soils.
Spotted Horsemint is a foliar host for the Common Sooty Wing and the magnificent Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, whose dark red spiny caterpillar is amazingly weird. The Butterfly looks nothing like it, instead having dark black wings that look like they flew through a shower of metallic blue and orange spray paint.
Division of the root clumps, also easily propagated from seeds and cuttings. Seeds readily in situ and is also commonly offered by native plant nurseries.
Also known as Globeflower, Honeyballs
Written by Kevin Tarner, Georgia Wildlife Federation
SOURCES:
Southeastern Wildflowers
Forest Plants of the Southeast and their Wildlife Uses
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