Mountain teacost is a fall-blooming wildflower of the mint family from Japan, Korea, and China, with slender spikes of small blue-purple lipped flowers. Despite its Japanese name meaning "mountain mint," it has hardly any minty smell. It is native to East Asia, and there are almost no records of it growing wild in the US.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A perennial 16–40 in (40–100 cm) tall with square stems bearing downward-pointing hairs.
- Leaves
- Opposite, broadly oval to triangular leaves 1.2–2.4 in (3–6 cm) long with blunt teeth, narrowing abruptly into a winged leaf stalk.
- Flowers
- Blue-purple flowers about 0.3–0.4 in (7–10 mm) long; the upper lip has fine dark-purple spots and the boat-shaped lower lip juts forward. The stamens stay hidden inside the flower.
- Flowering time
- September–October in Japan.
- Fruit
- Four tiny held inside the enlarged .
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- forest edges
- mountain grasslands
- Range
- Native to Japan, Korea including Jeju Island, and China.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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