Lycopus americanus is a widespread North American perennial that appears in moist sites, shorelines, and wetlands. A denizen of damp, American bugleweed is in the mint family (Lamiaceae), but crushed leaves are odorless. It does have the characteristic four-angled stem and opposite leaves, along with a whorl of small (1/8"), white flowers in the leaf axils. The tiny white flowers are sometimes dotted with pink or purple. It has a rangy and often floppy habit, with leaves widely spaced along the stem. The bugleweeds, as those in the genus are called, are widespread and often difficult to tell apart. American bugleweed is distinguished by its deeply lobed lower leaves, which others in the genus lack. The upper leaves are coarsely toothed. Lycopus americanus is a great player in a damp setting, be it stream or pond side, wet meadow, marshes, or just consistently wet areas. Pollinators love 'em, and waterfowl nosh on the nutlets. Fortunately, the bitter taste of the foliage deters mammals from browsing.
At home in soggy conditions, Lycopus americanus is a great addition to a wet area of your garden. It does well with fine- to medium-textured soils (loam and clay) and prefers consistent moisture. Drought, dryness, and saline conditions (salts) aren't in its playbook. Reports suggest it tolerates a range of sun exposure, which is likely to depend on your climate and access to moisture. We'd lean toward providing more moisture with greater sun exposure and siting it with some shade if you're in warmer climates.
Space plants 12" on center.
When happy, American bugleweed will establish colonies by rhizomes. The mature plant spreads a foot or so wide and is not prone to branching, so planting on 12" centers will help keep it from flopping over. There is power in numbers.
Companions should enjoy similar conditions, like the wetland sedges Carex comosa (longhair sedge), Carex stricta (tussock sedge), and Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge). Other moisture lovers to pair with it: Juncus effusus (soft rush), Iris versicolor (harlequin blueflag), Eutrochium fistulosum (hollow Joe-Pye weed), Eutrochium maculatum (spotted Joe-Pye weed), and Verbena hastata (blue vervain).
The genus name, Lycopus, derives from the Greek lykos meaning "wolf," and pous meaning "foot," a reference to the shape of the leaves. According to Illinoiswildflowers.info, "A variety of insects visit the flowers, primarily for nectar, especially short-tongued bees, wasps, and flies. Other floral visitors include long-tongued bees, butterflies, skippers, and beetles. The caterpillars of Sphinx eremitus (Hermit Sphinx) feed on the foliage of this and other bugleweeds (as well as other members of the Mint family)."
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Would you like your plants shipped later? You may choose to do so in the shopping cart.
Note: Early spring shipments might include plants that have not yet broken dormancy, or have not been vernalized and will be frost-tender. Please use your best judgment when selecting your preferred ship week.
Did you know? When plants are available from multiple growers, we list growers closest to your location first.
Why choose plants from the nearest grower? Choosing a the grower closest to you makes it more likely the plants are consistent with your ecoregion and better adapted to your location. In addition, shipping plants shorter distances typically uses fewer resources, something we can all get behind!
Recorded County Distribution: USDA data.
AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV, AZ, CA, CO, FL, ID, LA, MT, NM, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY |
Arid West | OBL |
Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain | OBL |
Eastern Mountains and Piedmont | OBL |
Great Plains | OBL |
Midwest | OBL |
Northcentral and Northeast | OBL |
Western Mountains, Valleys, and Coast | OBL |
MAP OF WETLAND DELINEATION REGIONS
Code |
Status |
Designation |
Comment |
OBL |
Obligate Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Almost always occur in wetlands |
FACW |
Facultative Wetland |
Hydrophyte |
Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands |
FAC |
Facultative |
Hydrophyte |
Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands |
FACU |
Facultative Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Usually occur in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands |
UPL |
Obligate Upland |
Nonhydrophyte |
Almost never occur in wetlands |
Kingdom | Plantae | Plants |
Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants |
Superdivision | Spermatophyta | Seed plants |
Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants |
Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons |
Subclass | Asteridae | |
Order | Lamiales | |
Family | Lamiaceae | Mint family |
Genus | Lycopus | water horehound |
Species | Lycopus americanus | American water horehound |
Sizes info
Shipping is free on all plants orders!
Your plants will ship using each grower’s preferred method: FedEx Ground, UPS Ground, or Spee-Dee Ground (in select midwestern states). Our growers ship orders Monday through Wednesday. The farther your plants need to travel, the earlier in the week they will ship. The goal is to have all plants delivered by the end of the week.
Shipping plugs:
Plugs are shipped in full flats, sometimes also referred to as trays. Multiple flats can be shipped in a single box. The flats are wrapped in netting or craft paper to secure the plants, and spacers are used between flats to keep the plants from being crushed.
When you unpack your plugs, the plants will have been somewhat flattened by the netting or craft paper. They will straighten out within a couple of days. You may also gently “fluff” them a bit to speed up the process. In some cases, your plants might have been cut back before packing, if the grower deemed them to have become too tall for safe packaging. Don’t worry, though, these guys know what they’re doing and would not compromise the health of the plants. They’ll fill back in in no time.
After receiving your plants’ journey in a dark box, it will be important to acclimate them to sunlight again. Over a couple of days, you should gradually move them into their preferred light exposure, and water them as per their requirement.
Although we always recommend putting your plants in the ground as soon as possible, they can stay healthy in the flats for a considerable amount of time. The key is to respect their growing requirements: if the species requires full sun, do not store them in the shade. If it is best adapted to dry soil, do not over-water.
Planting plugs:
We consider plugs ready to ship when the plants’ roots have filled the entire liner cell and the plants can easily be pulled out. In some cases you will have to go about it gently, wiggling the plant by the crown, and possibly squeezing the bottom of the liner to compress the growing medium and release the roots. Other times, the plants will appear to be root bound. They are not in the traditional sense. The plants are healthy but they have used up all the growing medium available to them. Plugs are at an aggressive stage of growth. As soon as planted the roots will immediately expand into your native soil. They establish faster than plants in larger containers, because they don’t have the luxury of a lot of growing media that can inhibit the roots from venturing outside of their comfort zone.
We are not going to address area preparation because the process can be complex and is always site-specific. However, as a rule, we recommend disturbing the soil as little as possible, and we do not recommend amending the soil. If you chose the right plant for the right conditions they will thrive. Any disturbance and amendments will only encourage weeds to emerge that never had a chance to do so before.
Installing plugs cannot be easier: dig a hole large enough for the roots to fit snugly inside, then water them in to eliminate air gaps. We recommend using a soil knife, sometimes referred to as hori hori, or a drill-adapted auger if it’s a large installation. If you use an auger, you will need a powerful drill. Depending on the size of the project and the type of soil, the process can be beyond what an average drill will bear. Mulching is recommended after installation to help keep weeds down while the plants establish. Be sure to keep it away from the crown of the plants. For large projects, you may want to mulch the area before planting, rather than tiptoeing through it after the fact. As a side note: if you are installing plugs in the fall, you might want to plant them so that the crown is about ¾” lower than the surrounding soil. The winter’s freeze/thaw cycles can push plugs out if the roots did not have enough time to establish and anchor them in.