Monardella odoratissima ssp. discolor
Mountain Monardella

Family: Lamiaceae (Mint family)

Photo taken at Swauk Pass, dry open rocky talus slope, lithosol soil

Flowers:

one terminal flower head per main stem, the dense heads subtended by conspicuous leafy or dry bracts, 10 to 25 mm wide; corolla pink-purple to whitish, 10 to 20 mm; 4 stamens; calyx less than 12 mm

Leaves:

shortly or scarcely petiolate, lanceolate to ovate, entire; 10 to 45 mm long and 3 to 12 mm wide; densely short-hairy beneath

Plant:

perennial; has a strong mint odor when crushed. Traditionally the stems and leaves were used to make a hot or cold tea by the Okanagan-Coville, Sanpoil and Nespelem. This tea was used as a beverage, and also to treat common colds.

Habitat:

open, often rocky places up to middle elevations in the mountains

Distribution of species:

drylands of central Washington and Oregon, west onto the east slopes of the Cascades

Distribution of genus:

more or less 30 species: western North America