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• Dichotomous Key
• Asteraceae
• Asteraceae Group 3
• Balsamita
• Balsamita major

Balsamita major — costmary

Facts

Costmary was at one time widely used to flavor beer (before the advent of hops), so it was an early introduction from Eurasia. An infusion of a smashed fresh leaf of costmary was used by the Iroquois for ear drops to cure earache.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Bases of bract appendages

  NA

  Bract color

  the bracts are not colored or tinged with pink, red or purple

  Bract cycle number

  there are three or more cycles of bracts

  Bract separation

  the bracts appear completely unconnected to one another on all flower heads

  Bract shape

  • the main bracts are lanceolate (widest above the base, then taper narrowly towards the tip)
  • the main bracts are linear (long and very narrow)
  • the main bracts are oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)
  • the main bracts are ovate (egg-shaped)

  Bract spines

  the bracts have no spines

  Bract texture

  the bracts appear thin, flexible and nearly translucent

  Bract tip color

  the tips are a different color from the center of the bract

  Bract tip orientation

  the bracts are pressed against the plant, or spreading out at the tips

  Bracts

  there are at least two distinct forms of bracts in different cycles

  Disk flower color

  yellow

  Disk flower lobe number

  • 4
  • 5

  Disk flower number

  more than 50

  Disk flower reproductive parts

  the disk flower has both pollen- and seed-producing parts

  Disk flower shape

  the disk flower is tube-shaped (cylindrical), or gradually widening like a funnel

  Flower head number

  • each flowering stem has four or more flower heads on it
  • each flowering stem has only one to three flower heads on it

  Flower head outer flowers

  at the outer edge of the flower head, the flowers have no enlarged lobe or strap, and are of similar size as those in the center of the disk

  Flower head platform

  the base has no bristles or papery scales

  Flower head position

  • each of the flower heads is separate on its own peduncle (stalk), not clustered in groups
  • some or all the flower heads are grouped in clusters of two or more

  Flower head profile

  • the disk is conical across the top
  • the disk is flat or nearly flat across the top

  Flower head shape

  the flower head is hemispherical (like the bottom half of a sphere)

  Flower head width

  4–20 mm

  Flower type in flower heads

  the flower head has tubular disk flowers in the center and ray flowers, these often strap-shaped, around the periphery

  Height of flower head base

  3–10 mm

  Inflorescence branching (Solidago)

  NA

  Inflorescence shape

  the inflorescence is flat-topped in profile

  Number of bracts at flower head base

  40–60

  Ovary cross-section

  the ovary has five or more corners in cross-section

  Ovary lines or ribs

  • there are four to six lines or ribs visible on the ovary
  • there are seven to nine ribs visible on the ovary

  Ovary profile

  in profile, the ovary is oblong (roughly rectangular but rounded at the ends)

  Ray flower color

  white

  Ray flower reproductive parts

  • the ray flowers have carpels or stamens, but not both
  • there are neither carpels nor stamens in the ray flowers

  Ray flowers

  • 0
  • 1-5
  • 11-15
  • 6-10

  Ray length

  At least 0 mm

  Reproductive system

  some of the flowers on the plant have only carpels or stamens, while others have both carpels and stamens

  Width of flower head base

  3–22 mm

• Fruits or seeds

  Number of pappus parts

  1

  Ovary length in developed fruit

  1.5–2 mm

  Seed hair tuft bases

  NA

  Seed hair tuft color

  NA

  Seed hair tuft details

  NA

  Seed hair tuft length

  0.1–0.4 mm

  Seed hair tuft tips

  NA

  Seed hairs uniform

  NA

  Seed tuft scale number

  0

  Seed tuft type

  the pappus is made of a circle or rim of lobes or teeth on the ovary

  Top of disk flower ovary

  NA

  Tuft or plume on fruit

  there is no plume, or the plume is made up of scales, awns, a crown, or a rim

• Glands or sap

  Bract resin

  the bracts have no resin or resin glands

  Leaf blade glands

  the leaf blades have glandular (translucent) dots or scales

  Ovary glands

  there are glands on the ovary surface

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant has one or more free-standing stems

  Plant lifespan

  the plant is perennial, it shows evidence of previous year's leaves, stems or stem bases

  Spines on plant

  the plant has no spines

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the underside of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade base

  • the leaf has a distinct petiole
  • the leaf has no petiole

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)

  Leaf blade edges

  • the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
  • the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade hairs

  • NA
  • the leaf blade has simple hairs with no glands, and not tangled or wooly

  Leaf blade length

  100–200 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)

  Leaf blade tip

  the tip of the leaf blade is obtuse (bluntly pointed)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has one main vein running from the base towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  20–80 mm

  Leaf disposition

  • the leaves are nearly similar in size, prominence of teeth, and length of stalks throughout the stem
  • the lower leaves are larger, toothier, and/or on longer stalks than the upper leaves

  Leaf spines

  there are no spines on the leaf edges

  Leaf stalk

  • the leaves have leaf stalks
  • the leaves have no leaf stalks, but attach directly to the stem

  Leaf tip extension

  NA

  Leaf type

  leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaflet number

  0

  Specific leaf type

  • the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis
  • the leaf has a row of two or more lobes on each side of the central axis, and each lobe itself has rows of lobes on each side of the lobe's central axis
  • the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem cross-section

  the flowering stem is circular, or with lots of small angles

  Leaves on stem

  there is at least one full leaf above the base of the flowering stem

  Stem internode hair direction

  the hairs are pressed flat against the plant, pointing either towards the plant's tip or towards it's base

  Stem internode hair type

  • the hairs on the stem are plain, without glands or branches, and not tangled
  • the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem internode hairs

  the stem has no hairs between the nodes

  Stem wings

  the stem does not have wings on it

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae