Blushing Scrub Balm

Dicerandra modesta

Native to FloridaFlorida endemicImperiled

At a glance

Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Dicerandra
Status: Native to Florida · found nowhere else
Conservation: Globally critically imperiled (G1) · Critically imperiled in Florida (S1)
Sightings: 144 verified in Florida

About

Dicerandra modesta is a species of Dicerandra endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge in Central Florida, United States. It is commonly known as blushing scrub balm. It is a listed state and federal endangered species. It is known only from a few populations in Polk County, Florida. It grows in scrub and sand hills.

Dicerandra modesta grows up to 12 in (30 cm) tall. Leaves are oblong to oblanceolate with a minty fragrance. D. modesta was originally described as a subspecies of D. frutescens. It was suggested as a species in 2008 based on molecular phylogenetic data indicating that it was more closely related to D. thinicola and D. immaculata var. immaculata than D. frutescens despite a disjunct distribution and morphological differences.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article “Dicerandra modesta”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where it grows in Florida

PanhandleNorthCentralSouthKeys

Central: Osceola, Polk

2 of 67 counties, from research-grade iNaturalist observations. They show where people have photographed it, not every place it grows — absence here isn't proof it's absent.