General: Mountain Monardella (Monardella odoratissima) is a perennial forb with a few upright stems and alternate, oblong leaves. In the spring, flowerheads are produced with several purple flowers and long, exerted stamens. The flowers are held within broad, spreading bracts.

Mountain Monardella is a common component of mountain vegetation communities in the Upper Sonoran (Pinyon-Juniper Woodland), Transition (Yellow Pine Forest), Canadian (Pine-Fir Forest), Hudsonian (Bristlecone Pine Forest), and Alpine (Tundra) life zones. Around Las Vegas, look for this species up in the mountains such as on Mt. Charleston in the Spring Mountains and the Sheep Range on the Desert National Wildlife Range.

Family: Mint (Lamiaceae).

Other Names: Pacific Monardella.

Plant Form: Perennial forb.

Height: To about 18 inches.

Stems: Erect, green, short hairs, sometimes with gland-tipped bristles.

Leaves: Blade to about 2 inches, lanceolate to oval, entire, sometimes hairy; may be tinges with purple.

Flowers: Blooms in the spring. Inflorescence: a head; outer bracts look like a leaf and spread outward; inner bracts erect, sometimes with purple tips.

Seeds:

Habitat: Mountain forests; sagebrush flats.

Elevation: To about 2,000 to 7,000 feet.

Distribution: Throughout the Pacific states from British Columbia south to California and east to Idaho and Nevada.

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