Wildflower (forb) · Lamiaceae
Wild bergamot
Monarda fistulosa · includes its varieties and subspecies
Wild bergamot is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,509 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Wild bergamot at a glance
- Native in
- 1,509 counties, across 41 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −32°F
- Mature height
- 4.9 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −32°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Wild bergamot is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,509 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,509 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 8 counties
- Arizona 10 counties
- Arkansas 56 counties
- Colorado 21 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 16 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Illinois 97 counties
- Indiana 78 counties
- Iowa 24 counties
- Kansas 58 counties
- Kentucky 81 counties
- Louisiana 37 counties
- Maine 8 counties
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 73 counties
- Minnesota 74 counties
- Mississippi 41 counties
- Missouri 99 counties
- Montana 41 counties
- Nebraska 44 counties
- New Hampshire 9 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New Mexico 20 counties
- New York 48 counties
- North Carolina 31 counties
- North Dakota 34 counties
- Ohio 81 counties
- Oklahoma 33 counties
- Pennsylvania 53 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Dakota 23 counties
- Tennessee 61 counties
- Texas 40 counties
- Vermont 8 counties
- Virginia 57 counties
- Washington 1 county
- West Virginia 27 counties
- Wisconsin 69 counties
- Wyoming 15 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 4.9 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 20 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 4 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −32°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 150
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Red
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Gray-Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- MOFI
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Monarda fistulosa (PLANTS symbol MOFI), including 4 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources