Agastache urticifolia (Benth.) Kuntze
nettle-leaved giant-hyssop (nettleleaf giant hyssop)
Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
nettle-leaved giant-hyssop (nettleleaf giant hyssop)
Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a branching, woody stem-base and a fibrous root; stems numerous, 40-150 cm tall, usually branched, very finely hairy to glabrous, 4-angled.
Leaves:
Opposite, egg- to heart-shaped, 3-10 cm long, 1.5-7 cm wide, margins coarsely toothed, glabrous or slightly roughly short-hairy above, glabrous or very short hairy to roughly short-hairy below; stalks 1-5 cm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a terminal spike of unstalked flower clusters, 3-15 cm long; corollas tubular, rose-purple to whitish, 10-14 mm long, 2-lipped, lower broader and longer, upper 2-lobed; calyces usually tinged lavender-purple, 3-veined, teeth 3-5 mm long, narrowly triangular-pointed; stamens 4, exserted, in 2 pairs, one longer.
Fruits:
Nutlets, 4 clustered together, oblong, about 2 mm long, brown, small hairs at tip.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Red
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Green
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Agastache urticifolia
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1180 | 800 | 1560 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
39 | 38 | 40 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
262 | 260 | 265 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
3 | 3 | 3 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
2 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
IDF(2) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Dry to mesic grasslands, meadows and forest openings in the steppe and montane zones; rare in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; S to CA and CO.Status Information
Taxonomic Keys
1. Calyces to 7 mm long; teeth to 2 mm long; leaves densely white-hairy beneath.............................A. foeniculum
1. Calyces to 10 mm long; teeth to 5 mm long; leaves glabrous or sparsely soft-hairy beneath.....................................A. urticifolia Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |