Trichostema pilosum Roth
Trichostema dichotomum L.
Eastern blue curls, forked bluecurls, blue curls, bastard pennyroyal
Blue curls are North American natives, members of the mint family. Trichostema means “hairlike stamens.”
Plants: 4–30″ (10–76 cm) in height—the ones I have seen are at the low end of that range.
Leaves: Foliage is multiply branched and the main stems may be tinged with red. Leaves are small (less than 1″ (2.5 cm) long), hairy, entire, and lacking in teeth.
Flowers: ½–¾″ long ⨉ ¼–5/16″ wide (1.3–1.9 cm ⨉ 6.3–8.3 mm). Flowers are blue, with four upper petals about the same size, and a long lower petal that is spotted and contains white. The most unique feature of these flowers are several long, elegantly arching stamens, poking out of the top of the flower and hanging downward in front.
Fruits: After flowers drop, four green nutlets appear, drying to dark brown.
Habitats: Dry open woods, sandy fields, clearings.
From Britton, Nathaniel Lord, and Brown, Addison, An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions, 1913, p. Vol. 3: 105. 
Online References:
Trichostema dichotomum L. var. puberulum Fernald & Grisc.
Trichostema pilosum Roth
Trichostema pilosum Roth
8/7/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, near Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 4″ (9.6 × 10 cm) 
7/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 2 × 1¾″ (5.1 × 4.9 cm) 
8/19/2018 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 3½″ (8.6 × 9.8 cm) 
8/19/2018 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 7″ (12 × 17 cm) 
8/7/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, near Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 3½″ (9.4 × 9.6 cm) 
8/4/2009 · Near Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 3½ × 3″ (8.8 × 8.3 cm) 
8/25/2009 · Nashua River Rail Trail, East Pepperell, Massachusetts · ≈ 6 × 4″ (16 × 10 cm) 
8/19/2018 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (12 × 9.2 cm) 
8/2/2012 · Nashua River Rail Trail, near Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 4½ × 7″ (11 × 16 cm) 
7/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 2½ × 3½″ (6.6 × 9.8 cm) 
7/21/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 2½ × 3″ (6.6 × 7.5 cm) 
8/7/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, near Nashoba Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts · ≈ 2½ × 2″ (6.3 × 5.7 cm) 
8/6/2017 · Andres Art Institute, Big Bear Mountain, Brookline, New Hampshire · ≈ 3½ × 4″ (9.7 × 10 cm) 
9/16/2013 · Townsend Wildlife Management Area, Townsend, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 4½″ (13 × 11 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 | Trichostema | “Hairlike stamens” |
| Species | dichotomum | Forked in, or repeatedly dividing into, pairs |
Trichostema dichotomum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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