According to the NPIN, mountain mints have special value to native, bumble, and honey bees, and support conservation biological control by attracting beneficial insects to the garden.

Mountain mints are also considered a key nectar source for monarchs and other butterflies.

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To help differentiate between the two very similar Mountain Mints (P. virginianum and P. tenuifolium), look for slight hairiness on the stem and leaves, or lack thereof.
P. tenuifolium does not have hairs on the stem or leaves (it is glabrous), whereas P. virginianum has this pubescence/hairiness on the stems and leaves. Other than that, their leaf shape/form is nearly identical.

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Unlike Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), this one doesn't have fragrant leaves, or at least my plants don't. The leaves taste a little bitter, but that's all. But all mountain-mint flowers provide food for short-tongued bees and wasps. Because the flowers are tiny, these insects can reach into them to drink the nectar. A great plant to attract predators that will eat garden pests.

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This nice fine-textured forb has a native range from New England through Minnesota then down deep into the South US in upland and wet meadows and barrens. It spreads by rhizomes (underground root-like stems) to become a colony.

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