Perennial Plant of the Year® 2025 – Perennial Plant Association
Clustered Mountainmint (Pycnanthemum muticum)

We have a plot of this on campus (but overly weedy) and my lab in coordination with Professor Simona Marincean have been conducting research on the essential oils. There has been little work on its use in products, but the smell is heavenly. I do not recommend eating or drinking it due to a small pulegone content, but it is a lovely lovely plant, and the stems stay upright all winter. Picking a leaf or two and rubbing it between your fingers releases a peppermint/spearmint aroma. We distilled the oils and tested the chemistry and its ability to inhibit bacterial growth.