Description
Blephilia ciliata, commonly called Ohio Mint, Downy Woodmint, or Ohio horsemint, is a native perennial forb (wildflower) which occurs in dryish open woods and thickets, clearings, fields and roadsides. Leaves are usually considered to be lacking in the pungency and quality needed for use as a culinary herb. Small basal leaves and shoots remain green throughout the winter.
Wildlife notes
Ohio mint flowers attract long-tongued and short-tongued bees, bee flies, Syrphid flies, butterflies, and skippers. The numerous bee visitors include honeybees, bumblebees, Anthophorine bees, little carpenter bees, leaf-cutting bees, Halictine bees, masked bees, and others. The small seeds are unlikely to be of much interest to birds, nor is the foliage an attractive source of food to mammalian herbivores.
Forage notes
Livestock tend to avoid plants in the mint family.
Landscaping notes
This plant grows best in average, dry to medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. It tends to express itself best in wild, native plant or open woodland gardens. The seeds are quite small, and distributed by the wind to some extent.
Restoration notes
Habitats include mesic to dry black soil prairies, dolomite prairies, thickets, savannas, limestone bluffs, and limestone glades.
This species is commonly used in the following mixes: Shadows & Sunbeams Mix