Agastache micrantha (White Giant-Hyssop)
Family
LAMIACEAE
Common Name
White Giant-Hyssop
Description
This variety differs from other Agastache by a short calyx tube (1.5-3 mm), and from its close relative, A. wrightii (Greenman) Woot. & Standl., by A. micrantha having thin and flaccid leaves. Sanders (1987) provides a paragraph in the discussion of A. micrantha that distinguishes these two species.
Distribution
North-central Arizona and north-central New Mexico to the Big Bend region of Texas and central Chihuahua, with a variety durangensis R. Sanders from southern Durango to southern Zacatecas
Habitat
Moist loam (Metcalfe 1416); under cliffs (Pringle 13599); steep rocky slope, 8,300 ft (Manthey 659); gravel loam of NW slope, 7,400 ft (Hutchins 2680); volcanic soil 8,700 ft (Fletcher 1591); gravel loam 6,750 ft (Hutchins 4806); on granitic-rhyolitic outcrops, usually above stream courses in the sclerophyllous Quercus-Bouteloua savannas or upper pinyon-juniper zone (Sanders 1987); rocky or sandy slopes, canyon bottoms, chaparral to oak-pine woodlands in mts. (Henrickson and Johnston 1997); canyons along watercourses (Martin and Hutchins 1981).
Important Literature
Henrickson, J. and M.C. Johnston. 1997. A flora of the Chihuahuan Desert region, ed. 1.2, 2 vols. Published by J. Henrickson, Los Angeles (trial version for correction).
Martin, W.C. and C.R. Hutchins. 1981. A Flora of New Mexico, vol. 2. J. Cramer, Vaduz.
Sanders, R.W. 1987. Taxonomy of Agastache section Brittonastrum (Lamiaceae-Nepeteae). Systematic Botany Monographs 15:1-92.
Information Compiled By
Richard Spellenberg 1998
For distribution maps and more information, visit Natural Heritage New Mexico