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| Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) - Mother Nature's Garden of Health |
July
is our peak butterfly season, so we like to feature a ‘butterfly plant’ for our
July Plant of the Month. One of the
plants that’s causing quite a stir is the Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis - pronounced ‘mon-ar-DEL-uh aw-STRAY-lis’). It’s been blooming
up a storm recently in the Garden of Health.
Like
many California natives, Southern mountain monardella has engendered some
recent taxonomic debate. Although
proposed as a separate species by Leroy Abrams in 1912, it was often classified
as a sub-species of the Mountain mondardella, Monardella odoratissima (ssp. australis).
Monardella
odoratissima demonstrates variability throughout its wide range (from
British Columbia to California and Arizona), and includes several sub-species. The Southern mountain monardella was thought
to be just the S. California variant of a wide wide-ranging plant.
In
2009 and 2014-15, AC Sanders & RA Elvin argued for species status for Monardella australis and proposed five
sub-species. [1] As of now, Southern mountain monardella is accepted as a separate
species. However, Monardella australis can still be found in the nursery trade as Monardella odoratissima ssp. australis, or sometimes just as Monardella odoratissima. Confusing – but that’s the nature of
science!
Southern
mountain mint (also known commonly as Southern monardella, Southern coyote mint
and Desert mint), grows in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto
Ranges (eastern Transverse Ranges) in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside
Counties of S. California. It rarely
grows below about 4500 ft. (1500 m.) in the wild and can be found as high as 10,000
ft. (3000 m.). It grows on rocky slopes
and forest openings in Yellow pine and Red fir forests. It perhaps seems an unlikely candidate for
lower elevation gardens; and yet it appears to do well there.
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| Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) |
Southern
mountain monardella is a part-woody perennial or small sub-shrub, with a mature
size of 1-2 ft. tall by 1-2+ ft. wide (30-60 cm.). Like many local sub-shrubs,
it starts out with a few slender, wand-like stems. As it gets older – and additional branches
fill in the shape – it becomes mounded to somewhat sprawling. If you know the San
Diego Willowy monardella (Monardella
linoides ssp. viminea or Monardella viminea), the shape is somewhat
similar. Our plant in the Garden of
Health is young (2 years) and hasn’t yet reached its full potential; it’s still
in the gangly, adolescent stage.
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| Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) - foliage |
The
foliage of Monardella australis is a
soft, light- or gray-green. The leaves
are lance-shaped to narrowly ovate, and may be slightly folded in a dry garden
(see above). The margins are entire or
sometimes toothed. The foliage is
drought-deciduous; but the plant leafs out again given a little water.
Both
foliage and flowers are highly aromatic.
To our tastes, this is one of the nicest mint flavors among the
California natives. Clean and distinctive,
it’s a flavor destined for kitchen and potpourri. A tea from fresh or dried leaves is
refreshing – and can help settle an upset stomach. We’ve used its flavor in
cookies, cakes and candies – and gotten rave reviews! To learn how to make a kitchen extract from
this and other mints (oh, so simple!) see: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2016/04/california-gourmet-making-flavored.html
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| Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) - flowering plant |
Monardellas
are in the Mint family (Lamiaceae). As expected, their flowers are grouped in
ball-like clusters (inflorescences) around the stems. But the Monardellas are showier of flower
than the common culinary mints. That’s just
one reason they have a place of honor in native and traditional gardens, alike.
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| Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) - flowers |
Southern
mountain monardella has flowers that range from pale pink to pastel lavender
and are hairy. The bracts at the base of
the inflorescence are green and leafy; those surrounding individual flowers are
pink-green. The flowers are about ¾ inch (2 cm) long. The overall impression is of delicate pastels
– like an impressionist painting (possibly Monet?). This is not the showiest of the native
Monardellas – that honor likely goes to Monardella
villosa – but the flowers are definitely charming.
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| Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) with Gulf Fritillary butterfly |
Like
many in the Mint family, Monardella australis
attracts its share of pollinators, including bees (native and European
Honeybee), pollinator flies and especially the butterflies. In fact, this
species seems to attract both the small (particularly the Skippers) and larger
butterflies. We’ve seen Gulf Fritillary,
Western Tiger Swallowtail, the Whites and the Ladies happily nectaring on our
Monardella. If you need an addition to
your butterfly garden, this might be the plant.
Monardella australis can be grown in most garden
soils. Though its natural medium is
rocky, it seems perfectly happy with sandy soil, clays & clay loams. As long as your soil drains reasonably, this
plant does fine. It seems to do better
with part shade in Western L.A. County, though you can grow it in sun with
irrigation. Even when established, it
looks best with occasional summer water; perhaps every several weeks in clays -
weekly in sands. In nature it gets from
1-4 inches of rain in the summer. So if
it’s raining in the local mountains, consider giving your plants a little
water. Taper off watering in late August
or September.
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| Pruning Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) |
To
keep Monardella australis compact and
mounded, a yearly pruning is recommended.
Prune each branch back by about
1/3, making sure to leave at least 3-4 sprouting centers. You can prune in summer or wait until late
fall. Either way, we like to wait until
the plant is producing new leaves; that way we know we aren’t pruning back into
old, non-productive wood.
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| Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) seedhead ready for harvest |
If
you prune (or deadhead) in summer, you may want to try propagating Monardella australis from seed or stem
cuttings. If propagating from seed, let
the seedheads dry on the plant, collect, then separate the tiny seeds from the
chaffy bracts (the bracts form tan seed capsules). Try rubbing the bracts over a metal sieve or
piece of screen; the seeds and smaller chaff will fall through. You can then save the seeds for planting in
winter. Fresh seed should sprout with no
pre-treatment. The seedlings are very
small – we’ll try to post some pictures this winter.
We
haven’t propagated this plant from cuttings, but will give it a try in a few
weeks. We’ll update this posting with our
experiences.
Southern
mountain monardella can be used in several ways in the garden. It’s sometimes used as a groundcover plant
under trees. If you have an herb
garden, that’s another option. You might
also plant it in a dryish, permanent position around the edges of a vegetable
garden. It looks pretty as a foreground plant
in mixed beds. And it would be happy in
a large container (at least 18 inches diameter and 24 inches deep). An unglazed terra cotta pot would work well;
and you’ll need to water at least weekly in summer.
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| Umber Skipper (Poanes melane) on Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) |
In
summary, Monardella australis is a
mint that’s unique to our local mountain ranges; it’s truly a part of what
makes S. California so special. It is an
excellent butterfly plant and can be planted for this reason alone. It has a lovely fragrance, making it a choice
plant for the herb and kitchen garden. We hope you can find a place for this little
gem in your garden. Then sit back and
enjoy the butterflies!
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| Fiery Skipper on Southern mountain monardella (Monardella australis) |
For a
gardening information sheet see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/gardening-sheet-monardella-australis
For more
pictures of this plant see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/monardella-australis-web-show
For plant
information sheets on other native plants see: http://nativeplantscsudh.blogspot.com/p/gallery-of-native-plants_17.html
We
welcome your comments (below). You can
also send your questions to: mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com
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