Crested elsholtzia is a strongly scented herb from Asia that has gone wild in parts of the northeastern United States. Its tiny lilac flowers line up along one side of short spikes in late summer and fall. Vietnamese cooks use it as a lemony herb called kinh giới, sold in US Vietnamese grocery stores as kinh gioi or Vietnamese lemon balm, and in the US it is also called crested late-summer mint.
Appearance
- Appearance
- An upright, branching herb about 1–2 ft (30–60 cm) tall, with square, softly hairy stems typical of the mint family.
- Leaves
- Opposite, egg-shaped leaves about 1–3½ in (3–9 cm) long with toothed edges. The whole plant has a strong aroma.
- Flowers
- Tiny pale purple flowers, about ¼ in (5 mm) long, all face the same way along one side of each spike. They open from the bottom of the spike upward.
- Flowering time
- Late summer into fall.
Look-alikes
Purple giant hyssop has flowers all the way around its spikes, and the spikes are usually longer. Crested elsholtzia's flowers sit on just one side of a spike about ¾–2¾ in (2–7 cm) long.
Why they get mixed upBoth are aromatic mint-family plants in the Northeast with small purplish flowers in spikes.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- roadsides
- yards
- railroad edges
- disturbed ground
- Range
- Native to temperate Asia. It was first reported in the Americas in 1889. In the US it grows wild mainly in the Northeast, with records from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York; it has also spread into Europe and India.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers moist soil and open, sunny spots such as rocky slopes and gravelly ground.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- As an annual, it comes back each year from seed.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Status
- Connecticut lists it as potentially invasive and bans it.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- Dried flowering stems are a traditional Chinese herbal medicine known as xiang ru.
More species to explore
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