I have a four year old prairie restoration that for the most part is working out just fine. Each year more and more surprises pop up. This is the latest. All my books point to a Hysopp but this one just doesn't seem to fit just right. The plant is about 5' tall. Flowers are about 6" or so. Picture was taken 8/14/06. The leaves are medium coarse but not hairy. stem is fairly smooth. NO scent when a leaf is torn. Any ideas? I'm in NE WI and stumped., , ,
the link is of lavender hyssop, which seems much different than what u are showing us. but that flower spike sure does look like Lamiaceae. maybe its some sort of cross...
I looked around at length and found what appear to be two close relatives. One is clearly Anise Hysopp with the distinct anise odor when the leaves are crushed. It is about three feet and made to order Anise Hysopp by every definition. The other one, the one I posted, is much taller, less bushy with little if any anise scent. I'm inclined to agree with you froggy that it is a cross. Oh by the way the white clover I was so worried about last year is nowhere to be seen. You were right, that stuff can't compete with the big guys. thanks HB
I burned in the spring. It seemed like everything took off real fast this year due to perfect rain patterns and immediate warm weather. This probably overwhelmed the clover right away since I only saw a couple plants here and there. All the plants are much taller than any of the books say they should be. I have real fertile soil with some farmland groundwater runoff with all the manure related nutrients. Good for the prairie plants but good for the quackgrass also. That's my next/current pest. you should swing by and take a look. it's at peak color right now. HB
, 
, 
, 
