Hyssopus (hyssop) is a genus of herbaceous or semi-woody plants in the family Lamiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to central Asia as far east as Mongolia. They are aromatic, with erect branched stems up to 60 cm long covered with fine hairs at the tips. The leaves are narrow oblong, 2–5 cm long. The small blue flowers are borne on the upper part of the branches during summer. By far the best-known species is the herb hyssop, widely cultivated outside its native area in the Mediterranean.
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
A nectar source is a flowering plant that produces nectar as part of its reproductive strategy. These plants create nectar, which attract pollinating insects and sometimes other animals such as birds.
Lavandula angustifolia, formerly L. officinalis, is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean. Its common names include lavender, true lavender and English lavender ; also garden lavender, common lavender and narrow-leaved lavender.
Agastache is a genus of aromatic flowering herbaceous perennial plants in the family Lamiaceae. It contains 22 species, mainly native to North America, one species native to eastern Asia. The common names of the species are a variety of fairly ambiguous and confusing "hyssops" and "mints"; as a whole the genus is known as giant hyssops or hummingbird mints.
Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists, which in turn provide herbivore protection. Common nectar-consuming pollinators include mosquitoes, hoverflies, wasps, bees, butterflies and moths, hummingbirds, honeyeaters and bats. Nectar plays a crucial role in the foraging economics and evolution of nectar-eating species; for example, nectar foraging behavior is largely responsible for the divergent evolution of the African honey bee, A. m. scutellata and the western honey bee.
Edible flowers are flowers that can be consumed safely. Flowers may be eaten as vegetables as a main part of a meal, or may be used as herbs. Flowers are part of many regional cuisines, including Asian, European, and Middle Eastern cuisines.
Ornithophily or bird pollination is the pollination of flowering plants by birds. This sometimes coevolutionary association is derived from insect pollination (entomophily) and is particularly well developed in some parts of the world, especially in the tropics, Southern Africa, and on some island chains. The association involves several distinctive plant adaptations forming a "pollination syndrome". The plants typically have colourful, often red, flowers with long tubular structures holding ample nectar and orientations of the stamen and stigma that ensure contact with the pollinator. Birds involved in ornithophily tend to be specialist nectarivores with brushy tongues and long bills, that are either capable of hovering flight or light enough to perch on the flower structures.
Agastache rugosa, also known as wrinkled giant hyssop, Korean mint, purple giant hyssop, Indian mint and Chinese patchouli is an aromatic herb in the mint family, native to East Asia.
Monarda fistulosa, the wild bergamot or bee balm, is a wildflower in the mint family Lamiaceae, widespread and abundant as a native plant in much of North America. This plant, with showy summer-blooming pink to lavender flowers, is often used as a honey plant, medicinal plant, and garden ornamental. The species is quite variable, and several subspecies or varieties have been recognized within it.
In ethology and behavioral ecology, trap-lining or traplining is a feeding strategy in which an individual visits food sources on a regular, repeatable sequence, much as trappers check their lines of traps. Traplining is usually seen in species foraging for floral resources. This involves a specified route in which the individual traverses in the same order repeatedly to check specific plants for flowers that hold nectar, even over long distances. Trap-lining has been described in several taxa, including bees, butterflies, tamarins, bats, rats, and hummingbirds and tropical fruit-eating mammals such as opossums, capuchins and kinkajous. Traplining is used to term the method in which bumblebees and hummingbirds go about collecting nectar, and consequently, pollinating each plant they visit. The term "traplining" was originally coined by Daniel Janzen, although the concept was discussed by Charles Darwin and Nikolaas Tinbergen.
Agastache rupestris, known as the threadleaf giant hyssop, Mexican Hyssop, or licorice mint, is a wildflower of the mint family (Lamiaceae) native to the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico, and Chihuahua, Mexico. Popular in xeriscaping because of its heat tolerance and ability to thrive in dry, nutrient-poor soil, it is often planted in containers or as a border flower and used to attract hummingbirds. Displaying gray-green stems and leaves while dormant, its orange flowers with purple buds bloom from mid-summer until fall; if crushed the petals exude a pleasant scent.
Hyssopus officinalis or hyssop is a shrub in the Lamiaceae or mint family native to Southern Europe, the Middle East, and the region surrounding the Caspian Sea. Due to its purported properties as an antiseptic, cough reliever, and expectorant, it has been used in traditional herbal medicine.
Agastache cana, more commonly known as the mosquito plant, Texas hummingbird mint, and double bubble mint, is a hardy perennial belonging to the genus Agastache. The genus name Agastache is derived from the Greek word meaning "a lot of", and stachy, meaning "spike", which refers to the flower's 12 terminal spikes that decorate the plant. These spikes remain through the growing season from early summer to late fall. The Mosquito Plant is native to New Mexico and western Texas, where it grows in mountainous areas at altitudes of 6,000 feet.
Agastache wrightii is a plant species in the genus Agastache, family Lamiaceae. It is native to the US states of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as the Sierra Madre Occidental along the boundary between the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora. Its common name is Sonoran giant hyssop.
Agastache scrophulariifolia, also known as the purple giant hyssop, is a perennial plant that grows throughout the US and northern Ontario, Canada. Its name comes from the similarity of its leaves to plants of the genus Scrophularia. It is a beneficial plant to pollinators and is noted for its medicinal properties, as many plants in the mint family are. It tends to grow in disturbed or open areas where it does not have to interact with non-native competitive plants.
Teucrium canadense, commonly known as Canada germander, American germander, or wood sage, is a perennial herb in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to North America where it is found across the contiguous states of the United States and in much of Canada.
Agastache nepetoides, commonly known as yellow giant hyssop, is a perennial flowering plant native to the central and eastern United States and Canada. It is a member of the Lamiaceae (mint) family.
