| Author | Michaux | |
| Distribution | Present over nearly all of the Mountains, but scarce to absent in the far southwestern tip. Barely ranges into the upper Piedmont.
This is a Northern species ranging across Canada and south to central VA and IL, and southward mainly in the Appalachians to western NC; not quite reaching GA and quite scarce in eastern TN.
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| Abundance | Infrequent to fairly common in the Mountains, but very rare to absent in the far southwestern corner (no records yet for Swain, Graham, and Cherokee counties). Very rare in the adjacent Piedmont. Weakley's (2018) map shows it as "common" in the NC Piedmont, though this is an error. | |
| Habitat | This species has a wide array of wetland habitats in the Mountains, including bogs, marshes, seeps, and floodplain forests. |
| Phenology | Blooms from July to frost; fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is a standard Lycopus species, growing usually without branches but some may have a few branches in the upper portions; typically grows to 1.5-2 feet tall. It has many pairs of opposite leaves --generally narrowly elliptical and about 2 inches long, with quite a few teeth, and whorls of small white flowers in the leaf axils, as do all of the others in the genus. In this species, the leaves are usually gradually tapering to the stem, appearing sessile, or at least gradually tapering to a short petiole but with convex to straight leaf margins; the very similar L. virginicus has a more obvious and longer petiole, where the curvature in the base of the blade is often concave in shape. Though not a common species in the mountains, it should not be overly difficult to find. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
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| Other Common Name(s) | Northern Water-horehound | |
| State Rank | S3 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | OBL link |
| USACE-emp | OBL link |
