We were at a party outdoors in the neighborhood over the weekend, and my asthma was bothering me from the pollen etc. Some self-proclaimed "herbal expert" hero went dashing off into the woods, returned with some flowers and stems and shoved them into my hand. He said they were "bee balm."
I've checked all the plants on this website, plus google searches, and don't find any that had thorns.
These flowers and leaves look like the bee balm's and bergamot's that I did find on websites, and they smell like the Bergamot that I have growing in my garden, but they don't have thorns, either.
Any thoughts from anyone on ID'ing this plant???? Thanks if you might have any clues!
Bee balm? help ID - has thorns?
Therica ~ I've never heard of a bee balm with thorns. Perhaps some native that grows in your area. Hope someone comes along that can be of assistance.
Did this "expert" do this for a reason? Was it to help the asthma? Did it? pod
Traditional use of bergamot is for inflammation, but nothing I ever heard of about asthma in general. I also have never seen a version with thorns.
Randy
Thanks to both for your replies. The guy was totally drunk, not to mention suffering from a great need for "look at me" attention and yes I have asthma but I have plenty of treatment for it myself, and didn't really need his heroic dashing-off efforts especially injuring himself and playing the hero. Enough on that idiot, tho!
I probably would have used it if it had indeed been bee balm, but..... yes I agree with both, I don't know of any or even related with thorns, so I thought that it must at least be something, maybe something similar-related but ....... I'm still puzzled! I'd had thoughts of planting the seeds here as well, until I saw the rather not-small thorns and had second thoughts on both the thorns, and then the later concern of its actual identify. I don't want any accidental opportunistic spreaders here!
The only plants that I could find that looked even close to Monarda and had spines were these:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/19556/
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/40826/
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/47813/
From what I know about Monarda, it makes a really nice tea, looks great in the garden, attracts pollinators and is traditionally used in vapor therapy for respiratory issues as an antiseptic. Asthma would fall under that category I suppose, but I don't think what you need is an antiseptic. Monarda doesn't have thorns.
Drunken herbal hobbyists. God help us all.
I LOVE bee balm! Brings the hummingbirds in!
Thanks for the photos and efforts, renwings, each has similarities to this "bee-balm" but other non-similarities. These thorns are more like rose-thorns in shape, but not nearly as large. The stems of the plant seem to have a slightly 4-sided shape.
Honestly, I'm not looking for any herbal-treatment reasons, although I'm sure Monarda would be great for asthma. I just like the scent of this plant given to me as "bee-balm," whatever it is-- but I'm hesitant to try letting it grow around here and ending up with some unknown, invasive or jagger-field results! ha ha
Therica -
My interest is piqued here about what you were given. Any chance you still have it & can post a photo? I have also never heard of or seen bee balm with thorns.
Beth
I would love to see a picture too, I'm so curious now.
I got a book on IDing wild edible plants, and one of the things I really like about it is that for every plant it describes, it includes whether there are poisonous lookalikes. I'll TRY and remember to bring it up with me tomorrow so I can give some input.
Was Intoxi-herbalist a wizard, too? It's a wonder he hasn't poisoned himself, or someone else.
Thanks for the continued interest and posts. The only crumpled handful that I was given has dried up, unfortunately. The flowers did have that paintbrush-wispy look of bee balm Monarda. The thorns, however, were the oddity, on the lower parts of the shoots, and the upper parts were slightly hairy.
And I have no idea what part of several woody acres he found this! It's in a woods next to a friend on the other side of our neighborhood. The self-proclaimed "herbal expert" said he'd been studying herbals for 18 years-- although I do suspect without benefit of formal training. He seemed intent upon diagnosing everyone at the party for every single alleged possible condition, grabbing people without permission and squeezing this or holding that part of their bodies, tried to crush the bursa on my ankles without warning (I was near to kick him in the head at that point!). His answer for nearly every "condition" was either wild-grape, bee balm or one other herb that I've forgotten. So-- he didn't quite seem "expert" to me, and yes that's why I posted my query since I hesitated to even use this or to plant any remnants here, before I could actually identify the plant! Sadly, hmmm.......... Maybe I'll see if I still have the dried remains and can somehow post a photo.
This message was edited Aug 4, 2007 3:28 AM
Mimosa!!
Thorns, Fuzzy pink blossoms, fragrant . . .
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/15373/
Definitely not mimosa-- definitely a ground-plant of some sort with rose-type hooked thorns. Blue-ish maybe slightly lavendar-tint flowers, wispy like short-haired artist-paintbrushes.
Scent-- kind of an odd pungeant male-cologne-ish sort of scent, our bergamot didn't survive the winter or I'd compare scents but I think it was similar.
Gotta see if I can even find what remains of the dried sample, and see if I can get a photo, darn!
thistle?
I took what was left of the dried-up crumpled handful of this plant which was given to me, soaked a leaf and flower to get them laid flat, and finally have photos!
The flower scent was sort of peppery but also similar to bergamot in its musky-masculine perfumy way.
The flowers were originally more lavendar-pink, but the juice that came from the soaked flower (as shown in photo) was yellow.
Keep in mind that the lower stalks with the thorns (which have been the reason for this original post to begin with!) were cut off after repeated jabs with them!
I had a gal tell me that salvias (and mints? - why can't I remember this correctly) were related and that you could tell them by their square; i.e., four-sided, stems. I've looked online and there appear to be some salvias with thorns.
Does that sound like a possibility?
Kathy
Woodinville
Thanks for your info, Kathy, but I checked any salvia's with photos on this website and none have the brush-like flowers of this plant. Yes the stems were 4-sided squares, so I guess that might've been an idea otherwise. This plant pretty much fits the characteristics of the various bee-balm and bergamot family plants, except for these farkin' thorns! Really puzzling! They are almost rose-like thorns, not tiny hair-brush thorns.
Shoot. I am so curious as to what this is. My bergamot has a distinct scent..
Have you posted to the plant id forum? Is it possible to go back and get a fresh specimen or is that too much work?
Kathy