Index / Search / Monarda fistulosa

§1 Plant — species · Lamiaceae

Monarda fistulosa L.

vernacular wild bergamot


USDA
MOFI
GBIF
5341411
Rank
species
wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Platephotograph · ziggymomCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Subshrub
Duration
Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Lamiaceae Martinov
Genus
Monarda
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
None
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
High
Fire
None
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
High
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-32 °F minimum
Frost-free days
150 min.
Precipitation
20–60 in/yr
pH range
6–8
Root depth
4 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Single Stem
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
4.9 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Gray-Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Red
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Summer
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
1,272,500
Propagation
seed, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Routinely Available
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 42 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/MOFI ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5341411 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z