We have dozens of these plants all over our property growing in part shade. The leaves surrounding the flowers look like they are painted white. The plant has a pleasant mint smell when crushed. Anybody know what they could be?
It doesn't look like a mint to me, but I can be wrong. Could you post a picture of the whole plant and leaf arrangement? Are the stems square? Do the plants spread by stolons?
It has a mint odor when crushed. The stems are square, and you can see this in one of these photos (I zoomed in on the stem).
Blephilia hirsuta or ciliata? http://www.keiriosity.com/gallery/m...suta/Blephilia_hirsuta_var_hirsuta06.jpg.html
I think you got it - it is definitely one of those two plants, although I am not sure which one. I read about both and it could be either. Thanks!
Today I stumbled into a more likely candidate for this plant: http://www.pbase.com/ronmetcalfe/image/96313424 Pycnanthemum loomisii (Loomis' Mountain Mint) One of the descriptions I read on the internet that most matched the plant was "leaves look as if dusted with white powder" which describes this plant exactly. When I saw the leaves I initially thought they were coated in very fine pollen, but the leaves just naturally look this way.
Pycnanthemum loomisii (Loomis' Mountain Mint) is not actually known to occur in Ohio, assuming that's where your property is; see its distribution below: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PYLO Perhaps some other mountain mint? You can see which occur in Ohio (either natural or introduced) by doing a state search at USDA Plants: http://plants.usda.gov/checklist.html
