Pycnanthemum torreyi

Description

Pycnanthemum is a genus of plants in the mint family (Lamiaceae). They are commonly known as mountain mints (or mountain-mints, mountainmints), though "the mountain mint" may also be any locally common species in particular. Some are known as koellias, after an obsolete genus name. All of the species in this genus are native to North America. Most are very strongly scented and pungent, and are used in cooking and in making herbal tea. Indeed, like the true mints (Mentha) they belong to the tribe Mentheae of subfamily Nepetoideae. However, while the mountain-mints are a highly advanced genus most probably closest to the bee balms (Monarda), which are also endemic to North America, the true mints are part of a more basal and largely European radiation of this tribe.