Plant: perennial herb; to 30-75 cm tall, suffrutescent; stems pilose, 1-2.5 mm in diameter at midpoint, ascending, 1 to several, with lateral branches

Leaves: deltoid-ovate to deltoid-lanceolate, 1.5-4.5 cm long, obscurely glandular, darker green above than below, the lower surfaces hirsute, the veins pilose, the blades 1-1.6 times longer than wide; base truncate to truncate-cordate; margin dentate to crenate-serrate; apex acuminate to obtuse

INFLORESCENCE: continuous to interrupted, usually of fewer than 20 verticils

Flowers: calyx rosy-lavender, 5-7.5 mm long, the tube 3.5-5 mm long, appearing plicate, the secondary and primary costae equally thick and rigid; corolla tube 6-7 mm long, purple to rosy-lavender; anthers ca. 0.4 mm long; stamens and style not exceeding the corolla.

Fruit: nutlets, 1.5 mm long, 1 mm wide, oval to oblong

Misc: In mesic or riparian sites or transitional zones of Pinus ponderosa, slopes of mixed conifer forests and some mts; 1600-2450 m (5300-8000 ft); July-Oct

REFERENCES: Christy, Charlotte M. 2003. Lamiaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 35(2).

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Small perennial herb, woody at the base, pilose, to 75 cm tall, branching above the base, stems square, tends to get bushy in favorable conditions and is very fragrant.

Leaves: Broadly or narrowly triangular, with toothed margins, pilose, dark green above, lighter beneath, veins obvious on the underside of the leaf, 1.5-4.5 cm long.

Flowers: Rose-purple to lavender, tubular with a small lip and hood, the tube 6-10 mm long, tightly packed in a spicate, dense inflorescence, occasionally this can be interrupted, calyx tube purple, stamens not exceeding the corolla.

Fruits: Tiny, oval to oblong nutlets.

Ecology: Found in dry or wet soils in riparian areas, in pine forests and mixed conifer forests from 5,500-8,500 ft (1676-2591 m); flowers July-October.

Notes: This lovely plant is also called the Arizona Hummingbird mint, and does justice to the name. Distinguished by the deltoid-ovate to lanceolate leaves with dentate to serrate margins and the corolla tube 6-7 mm long, some other Agastache are longer than 7 mm.

Ethnobotany: Unknown

Synonyms: None

Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011

Etymology: Agastache comes from agan, "very much," and stachys, "an ear of corn or wheat," having many spikes, while breviflora means short-flowered.