Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Perennial herb, 7-15 cm tall (rarely to 25 cm), from a caespitose caudex and woody root; stems several, 4-angled, branching at the base, glabrous or sparsely hairy.

Leaves: Opposite and abundant along the stems; blades 1-5 cm long, deeply pinnately lobed, often to the midrib, the lobes linear and usually entire but sometimes lobed again; surfaces glabrous or nearly so.

Flowers: White and crowded in leafy spikes at branch tips; calyx bell-shaped (campanulate) and topped with 5 unequal-sized teeth; entire calyx is 8-13 mm long, with the teeth about twice as long as the fused portion of the calyx; corolla white, sometimes with purple streaks, 1-2 cm long, 5-petaled and bilaterally symmetrical, with the lowest petal 9-14 mm long, substantially larger than the other four petals.

Fruits: Nutlets 4 per flower, oval, 3 mm long, wrinkled, and glabrous.

Ecology: Found in plains, hills and valleys, often in limestone or gypseous soils, from 4,000-6,500 ft (1219-1981 m); flowers May-September.

Distribution: OK, KS, CO, NM, TX

Notes: Identify this low perennial herb by its densely leafy stems; narrow, deeply divided leaves; showy white flowers with the lowest petal two or three times longer than the other petals, looking like a landing pad for pollinators; and inflorescences of densely packed flowers and leaves at the branch tips. T. cubense is somewhat similar, but that species is usually more than 20 cm tall, and the long lower petal of the flowers is only 5-8 mm long (9-14 mm in T. laciniata).

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses.

Etymology: Teucrium is named for Teucer, the first King of Troy; laciniata means cut into narrow, irregular lobes, alluding to the leaves.

Synonyms: Melosmon laciniatum

Editor: AHazelton 2017