Agastache

Agastache
Agastache 'Blue Fortune'
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Agastache
Gronov.
Synonyms[1]
  • Brittonastrum Briq.
  • Flessera Adans.
  • Dekinia M.Martens & Galeotti
  • Lophanthus Benth. 1829, not Adans. 1763 nor J.R. Forst. & G. Forst. 1775
Agastache rupestris in bloom.

Agastache (giant hyssop) is a genus of aromatic flowering herbaceous perennial plants in the family Lamiaceae, native to eastern Asia (one species) and North America (the rest).[1][2][3][4]

Most species are very upright, 0.5–3 m tall, with stiff, angular stems clothed in toothed-edged, lance shaped leaves ranging from 1–15 cm long and 0.5–11 cm broad depending on the species. Upright spikes of tubular, two-lipped flowers develop at the stem tips in summer. The flowers are usually white, pink, mauve, or purple, with the bracts that back the flowers being of the same or a slightly contrasting color. Leaf tips can be eaten and made into teas.

"Agastache" is Greek for "many spikes".[5]

Species[1][4]
  1. Agastache aurantiaca (A.Gray) Lint & Epling - Orange Hummingbird Mint. Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango)
  2. Agastache breviflora (A.Gray) Epling - TransPecos giant hyssop. Northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora), SW USA (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas)
  3. Agastache cana (Hook.) Wooton & Standl. - Texas Hummingbird Mint. (Wild Hyssop, Mosquito Plant, Mexican Hyssop), SW USA (New Mexico, Western Texas)
  4. Agastache coccinea (Greene) Lint & Epling - Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango)
  5. Agastache cusickii (Greenm.) A.Heller - Cusick's Giant Hyssop. NW USA (Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Nevada)
  6. Agastache eplingiana R.W.Sanders - Mexico (Durango)
  7. Agastache foeniculum (Pursh) Kuntze - Giant or Anise Hyssop. widespread rom Arctic Canada to Colorado and Kentucky; naturalized in Austria
  8. Agastache mearnsii Wooton & Standl. - New Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora
  9. Agastache mexicana (Kunth) Lint & Epling - Mexican Giant Hyssop. widespread across much of Mexico
  10. Agastache micrantha (A.Gray) Wooton & Standl. - Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Chihuahua
  11. Agastache nepetoides (L.) Kuntze - Eastern North America from southern Ontario and southern Quebec south to Oklahoma and Georgia
  12. Agastache occidentalis (Piper) A.Heller - Washington, Oregon
  13. Agastache pallida (Lindl.) Cory (syn. A. barberi). Northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora), southwestern USA (Arizona)
  14. Agastache pallidiflora (A.Heller) Rydb. - Northern Mexico (Chihuahua), Southwestern USA (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, western Texas)
  15. Agastache palmeri (B.L.Rob.) Standl. - central + northeastern Mexico
  16. Agastache pringlei (Briq.) Lint & Epling - Northern Mexico (Chihuahua), southwestern USA (New Mexico)
  17. Agastache parvifolia Eastw. - northern California
  18. Agastache rugosa (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) Kuntze - Korean Mint. Southeastern Russia (Primoriye, Khabarovsk), Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan; naturalized in Laos and Vietnam
  19. Agastache rupestris (Greene) Standl. - Threadleaf giant hyssop or Licorice Mint. Arizona, New Mexico
  20. Agastache scrophulariifolia (Willd.) Kuntze - Eastern North America from southern Ontario and South Dakora south to Georgia
  21. Agastache urticifolia (Benth.) Kuntze - Western North America from British Columbia south to California and Colorado
  22. Agastache wrightii (Greenm.) Wooton & Standl. - Arizona, New Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora

Cultivation

They are easily grown in moist, well-drained soil and prefer a sunny position. Winter hardiness varies; the hardiest is A. foeniculum, hardy to USDA plant hardiness zone 1 in the north of its range; A. nepetoides, A. rugosa, A. scrophulariifolia and A. urticifolia are hardy to zones 3–5 in the northern parts of their ranges. Propagate from seed or cuttings. Popular cultivars include A. cana 'Heather Queen'. The cultivar 'Blue Fortune' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[6]

Medicinal uses

Agastache rugosa has a history of use in Chinese herbology.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Agastache.
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964.
  3. ↑ Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 106, 藿香 huo xiang, Agastache rugosa (Fischer & C. Meyer) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 511. 1891.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Altervista Flora of North America
  5. ↑ Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd ed, 2013, p. 72
  6. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector Agastache 'Blue Fortune' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-22.