Flower for the Day Horsemint 7-6-21

Well its back to my garden regulars. Horsemint (Monarda punctata), also called spotted beebalm, is a wild mint  that showed up in my front garden several years ago. Its getting very close to invasive but is very easy to pull out. It is a monarda that draws in the bees and butterflies.

Unlike the most familiar Monarda species that have a single flower head on a stem, Monarda punctata has flowers that are stacked up the stem with bracts radiating from the stem, under each flower. Varying in color from light pink to white, the bracts are ornamental longer than the flowers, whereas the flowers spots are visible only at close range. Until I read about it I didn't even see the spots.