Scientific Name: Hyptis emoryi
Common Name: Desert Lavender
Family: Lamiaceae, Mint Family
Duration: Perennial
Size: Up to 9 feet or more under ideal conditions.
Growth Form: Shrub; spreading to erect, multiple stems.
Leaves: Green or grayish-green or whitish gray-green, canescent; leaves ovate with petioles, margins crenate (see photos above), cold deciduous.
Flower Color: Violet; flowers in axils, fruit a nutlet.
Flowering Season: January to December at lower elevations.
Comments: The flowers of Desert Lavender are an important nectar source for desert honeybees during their major spring blooms. Desert Lavender is drought tolerant and readily available as a desert or mid-elevation land species. The leaves have a strong, pleasant, lavender fragrance when crushed. The flowers have only a faint fragrance of honey.
