Seed collected from MPF’s Stilwell Prairie. Photo: Scott Lenharth
Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)
A multi-stem shrub that dies to the ground occasionally. Flowers are tiny and massed in tight spikes
Height
to 4 feet
Blooms
May-September
Distinguishing Characteristics
Basal leaves in a whorl; smooth, narrow, with a long stalk; margin smooth or with small teeth.
Comments
Found in prairies, glades and savannas throughout the Ozarks and prairie regions of Missouri. Obedient plant blooms in late spring and is occasionally used in seeding mixes, but is easy to establish from seed. It blooms the second year after seeding. Another species of obedient plant, false dragonhead, is also found on Missouri glades and blooms in late summer.

Seeds (scale is in 1/16 inch increments)

Seedling

Juvenile

Distinguishing Characteristics

Mature