Foothills, montane. Woodlands, shrublands, openings. Summer.
Prater Ridge Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, June 19, 2005.

Dracocephalum parviflorum has light green, coarsely toothed leaves which stand stiffly out in an open, airy pattern from an erect, thick, square stem.  When you spot one plant, you will often find a dozen more in the same area, but spotting the first is the challenge.  Flowers are tiny and light pink in a swirl at the tip of the tall stem.

Linnaeus named this genus in 1753.  The Greek "Dracon" means "dragon" and "cephalos", "head".  "Parviflorum" is Latin for "small flower".

Thomas Nuttall, Professor, naturalist, and explorer collected this species in 1811 along the Missouri River near Fort Mandan, North Dakota, and described and named it in his Genera of North American Plants in 1818.

Foothills, montane. Woodlands, shrublands, openings. Summer.
Prater Ridge Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, June 19, 2005.

Foothills, montane. Woodlands, shrublands, openings. Summer.
Prater Ridge Trail, Mesa Verde National Park, June 19, 2005.