Agastache wrightii (Sonoran Giant-Hyssop)
Family
LAMIACEAE
Common Name
Sonoran Giant-Hyssop
Description
This Agastache differs from all other Agastache in the region, except for A. micrantha, by its small flowers. The calyx tube is less than 3 mm long. It has thicker leaves than A. micrantha, the leaves usually not wrinkling upon drying, the leaves mostly 1.5-2.0 (rather than 2.5-3.0) times longer than wide. Agastache micrantha is primarily of the Chihuahuan Desert region; A. wrightii occurs where the Sonoran influence is stronger.
Distribution
Central Arizona to southwestern New Mexico, northeastern Sonora and extreme west-central Chihuahua (Sanders 1987).
Habitat
Canyons, hills and montane slopes, 4,500-6,500 ft (Martin and Hutchins 1981); upper Sonoran zone (Wooton and Standley 1915); rich soil, canyons and slopes, 4,000-6,000 ft (Kearney and Peebles 1969); igneous rock outcrops in protected gravelly creek banks in shallow stream courses and canyons, usually with sclerophyllous oaks and grasses or scatter ponderosa pines, 1100-2000 m (Sanders 1987).
Important Literature
Wooton, E.O. and P.C. Standley. 1915. Flora of New Mexico. Contributions from the U.S. National Herbarium 19:1-794.
Martin, W.C. and C.R. Hutchins. 1980. A flora of New Mexico, vols 1-2. J. Cramer, Vaduz.
Kearney, T.H. and R.H. Peebles. 1969. Arizona Flora, 2nd ed. (with supplement by J.T. Howell, Elizabeth McClintock, et al.). Univ. California Press, Berkeley. 1085 pp.
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