Chinese giant-hyssop

Agastache rugosa, the Korean mint or Chinese giant hyssop, is an erect aromatic perennial herb of the mint family native to East Asia, growing roughly fifty centimetres to one and a half metres tall. The square, branching stems bear opposite, ovate to lance-shaped leaves with coarsely toothed margins, pointed tips, and a wrinkled (rugose) upper surface; when crushed the foliage releases a strong anise- or licorice-scented aroma. The small two-lipped flowers are densely crowded into cylindrical terminal spikes several centimetres long; they range from pale purple and violet to occasionally white, each with a tubular calyx and protruding stamens, and are highly attractive to bees and other pollinators. Flowering occurs through summer into autumn, followed by small dry nutlets. Widely distributed in China, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Far East, it grows on hillsides, roadsides, and forest margins and is also cultivated as a culinary herb and ornamental.