Wild bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Also called Bee balm, Horsemint
We do not have a Blackfoot or Cree name for this one yet. Tell us the name and we will add it, with your word on where it comes from.
A prairie mint with a ragged lavender flower head and a strong oregano smell. Used for colds and sore throats, and a strong scent plant.
Commonly shared knowledge. Learn it, gather it, and follow the protocol.
Take care
- Strongly aromatic plants are not taken in quantity in pregnancy.
How to know it
- Flowers
- A single shaggy pom-pom of pale purple tubular flowers at the top of each stem, looking a little unkempt.
- Smell
- Strong and spicy, like oregano or thyme, when the leaves are crushed.
- Stem
- Square, like all the mints.
- Leaves
- Opposite, triangular to lance-shaped, toothed, greyish-green.
- Height
- Knee to waist high on dry open slopes.
The country it grows in
- Open prairie
- Coulee slopes
- Aspen parkland
- Foothills and shrubland
Landscape types only. We do not publish where a patch is, and we are not going to.
When it is ready
- Leaves June to September
- Flowers July to August
Right now it is July. Something on this plant is in season.
What it is used for
- Breathing and colds
- Food and drink
- Smudge and ceremony
Documented widely on the plains as a tea for colds and sore throats, and as a scent.
How it is prepared
- Tea
Leaves and flowers steeped in hot water. Strongly flavoured, so use less than you think.
- Dried and stored
Dries very well and keeps its scent. Hang in bundles.
Protocol
Ask the plant first, and offer something before you take anything. Tobacco is what is most often offered here. Say who you are, and say what the medicine is for.
Harvest the mature plants and leave the small ones to grow. Never take the first plant you find, and never take all of them.
Take only what you will actually use. Medicine picked and then left to rot in a bag was taken for nothing.
Leave the ground as you found it. Put back any dirt you dug up, and return any plant material you do not use to the earth.
Do not gather beside roads, highways or trails, where the plants take up whatever has been sprayed or spilled there.
If you are not certain what a plant is, do not pick it and do not put it in your mouth. Ask someone. Being wrong in the field is how people get hurt.