AMERICAN WATER HOREHOUND (Lycopus americanus)
Another one of our wetland mints, this little number has very distinct, lobed leaves. White flower clusters appear in the leaf axils. Closely related to bugleweed, and sometimes called cut-leaf bugleweed, American water horehound is very bitter. It can handle a fairly wide range of soil moistures – I have seen it in temporary standing water as well as along the edge of my sandy driveway.
Grows with flat-topped goldenrod, panicled aster, wild mint, bugleweed, joe pye weed, boneset, northern reed grass, woolly sedge and graceful sedge.
Flower Colour: white
Life Cycle: perennial
Sun Exposure: full sun – part shade
Bloom Period: July – August
Height: up to 1 ft
Soil: medium to moist