yellow giant hyssop

A. nepetoides is a large plant, growing to 1.2–2.1 m (4–7 ft) tall as an erect stem with few branches. As with other plants in the mint family, the central stem is 4-angled as opposed to round. The stem is also hairless, or glabrous, and winged. The leaves are thin, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, and measure 5–15 cm (2–6 in) long and 3–7 cm (1–3 in) across. They are arranged oppositely on the stem and are coarsely toothed. The leaves do not have the fragrance usually associated with some other members of the mint family. The flowers are greenish-yellow and appear as individual spikes at the end of the central stem and major secondary stems. Each spike is about 10–41 cm (4–16 in) long. Only a few of the densely packed flowers are in bloom at the same time.

The plant is native in the United States from Nebraska to the west, Georgia to the south, Massachusetts to the east, and the Canadian border to the north. In Canada, it is native in Quebec and Ontario. Its natural habitat is meadows, lowland woods and thickets, and upland deciduous woods.