Lemon beebalm

Monarda citriodora, commonly known as lemon beebalm, lemon mint or purple horsemint, is an annual or biennial aromatic herb of the family Lamiaceae, native to the central and southern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows on prairies, open woodland, dry plains, road verges and disturbed ground, often on calcareous soils. The plant typically grows 30–80 cm tall, with erect, square, finely pubescent stems that are branched mainly in the upper part. The leaves are opposite, lanceolate to narrowly oblong, 3–8 cm long and 0.5–2 cm wide, shallowly toothed, on short petioles, and emit a strong lemon-thyme fragrance when crushed. The inflorescence consists of several distinct, stacked, whorl-like clusters (verticillasters) borne in the upper leaf axils, each subtended by a conspicuous ruff of leafy, often pink- or lavender-tinged bracts with long acuminate tips. The flowers have a tubular, two-lipped pink, lavender or whitish corolla 2–3 cm long with a narrow hooded upper lip and a spreading three-lobed lower lip, often spotted with purple. Stamens are two and exserted. The fruit splits into four small smooth nutlets. Flowering occurs in late spring and summer.