The medium to deep green leaves are 7–15 centimetres (3–6 inches) long, shaped ovate to ovate-lanceolate, with serrate margins, placed opposite on square, hollow stems.

[citation needed] The bright and red flowers are ragged, tubular and 3–4 cm (1–1+1⁄2 in) long, borne on showy heads of about 30 together, with reddish bracts.

It grows in dense clusters along stream banks, moist thickets, and ditches, blooming for about 8 weeks from early to late summer.

[6] Crimson beebalm is extensively grown as an ornamental plant, both within and outside its native range; it is naturalized further west in the United States and also in parts of Europe and Asia.

[citation needed] Beebalm is a natural source of the antiseptic thymol, the primary active ingredient in modern commercial mouthwash formulas.