August 4th.
2012. We
wandered down a forest service road in the Oconee National Forest. The road
didn’t look very interesting. Wide margins on each side of the road had been
mowed. So it was surprising to find anything of interest. W spotted them –
well, they were on his side of the truck – a clump of plants standing about 30
inches tall. He almost missed them. It was late afternoon and dark with
thunderstorm clouds above us. In this light, these blooms didn’t stand out.
But they were gems. The first
Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) plants I’ve ever seen in three years of
wandering around north Georgia. Just shows that you have to be in the right
place at the right time. W pulled a camp chair out of the truck and I sat there
for about 15 minutes photographing them.
The plants. There were three clumps
in all.
A closer view of the clump.
*****
The
leaves are opposite and are developing a pink color and will be bracts to
future blooms.
A
closer view of an individual flower head composed of three levels of blooms.
The individual flowers are yellow with brown spots that are arranged around the
stem.
The
top of the flower head. Flowers are developing
A
single level of flowers
*****
*****
Closer
views of a single flower
And the bonus… A small crab spider was lurking
among the flowers hoping for a meal.
Monarda
punctata (Spotted Beebalm, Eastern Horse-mint, Dotted Horse Mint) is native to the
United States. Where it’s found in states southeast of a line from Quebec and
Ontario, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas to New Mexico. In Georgia, it’s found in many
counties throughout the state. Interestingly it has not been formally
documented in Oglethorpe County.
Identification
resources:
- Southeastern
Flora: Monarda punctata (Spotted Beebalm)
- Name
that Plant: Native and Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas and Georgia: Monarda punctata (Eastern Horse-mint)
- Alabama Plants: Monarda punctata (Dotted Horse Mint)
Distribution:
- United
States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Monarda punctata (Spotted Beebalm)
- University of North Carolina Herbarium: Monarda punctata
Related post:
Wow, this is such a beauty. I have never seen this before. It looks almost tropical, like something from Hawaii.
ReplyDeleteIt is beautiful. From a distance, it doesn't look like much. It's only when you get up close that it's real beauty becomes apparent.
ReplyDelete