Lycopus uniflorus Michx.
Northern bugleweed
Northern bugleweed is native to much of North America, and China, Japan, Korea, and the Russian Far East. The “bugle” in bugleweed comes from the bugle shape of the tiny flowers. (“Bugleweed” is also applied to some members of the Ajuga genus, such as Ajuga reptans). It is also called water horehound—from “hore,” downy, and “hune,” an old English word for a type of plant.
Plants: 4–20″ (10–50 cm) tall, and usually straight or with a few branches. Stems are four-angled and almost hairless.
Leaves: Up to 3 ⨉ 1″ (7.6 ⨉ 2.5 cm). They are hairless or nearly so, with 2-7 teeth on each side of the leaf. The leaves are opposite, and each pair are rotated 90° from the previous pair.
Flowers: Flowers occur in dense clusters at leaf axils. They are tubular, reaching in every direction from the leaf axil, and about ⅛″ (3.2 mm) around at the end.
Fruits: Nutlets are 1/32–1/16″ (1–2 mm), in groups of four.
Habitats: Wet areas such shores, swamps, marshes, wet meadows, and stream banks.
Edibility: Roots are edible raw or cooked, in salads or soups, and were a common food source for indigenous peoples.
Medical: Mildly sedative.
Members of Lycopus, the water-horehounds, are notoriously hard to distinguish. They are also easily confused with some members of other genera.
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Similar species. |
Online References:
References:
Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 342
8/22/2020 · Warbler’s Way, Moose Alley, Hidden Valley Nature Center, Jefferson, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 6″ (12 × 16 cm) 
Are those swollen nodes galls? · 8/31/2023 · Rines Forest, Cumblerland, Maine · ≈ 4 × 6″ (11 × 16 cm) 
8/28/2013 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 7″ (16 × 18 cm) 
9/19/2023 · Denny Reed Trail, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm) 
9/19/2023 · Denny Reed Trail, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 5 × 8″ (13 × 20 cm) 
8/31/2023 · Rines Forest, Cumblerland, Maine · ≈ 4 × 5″ (11 × 13 cm) 
8/28/2013 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 8″ (16 × 20 cm) 
9/19/2023 · Denny Reed Trail, Phippsburg, Maine · ≈ 5 × 7″ (13 × 17 cm) 
8/28/2013 · Pearl Hill State Park, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 8 × 7″ (19 × 18 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Asteridae | A large class that encompasses asters |
| Order | Lamiales | Aromatic herbs and shrubs, including lavender, lilac, olive, jasmine, ash, teak, snapdragon, sesame, psyllium, garden sage, mint, basil, and rosemary |
| Family | Lamiaceae | Mint family |
| Genus | Lycopus | From the Greek lykos, “wolf,” and pous, “foot” |
| Species | uniflorus |
Lycopus uniflorus description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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