Physostegia virginiana (
obedient plant,
obedience, or
false dragonhead) is a
species of
flowering plant in the mint
family,
Lamiaceae. It is
native to North America, where it is distributed from eastern Canada to northern Mexico.
Physostegia are known commonly as obedient plants because a flower pushed to one side will often stay in that position. The name false dragonhead refers to the dragonheads of the related
Dracocephalum, a genus to which the plant once belonged.