Stachys

Read about Stachys in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Stachys (from an old Greek name applied by Dioscorides to another group of plants, coming from the word for spike). Labiatae. Woundwort. Tall perennial herbs or diffuse annuals, rarely subshrubs or small shrubs, both greenhouse and hardy plants, little known to gardeners. Leaves very entire or dentate, the floral lvs. similar or reduced to bracts: floral whorls 2- to many-fld., axillary or arranged in terminal spikes: fls. sessile or very short-pedicelled, purplish, scarlet, pale yellow, or white, small or sometimes showy; calyx tubular-campanulate, 5-10-nerved, 5-toothed; corolla-tube cylindrical, included or exserted, limb 2-lipped, the posterior often villous outside; stamens 4: nutlets ovoid or oblong.—About 270 species, mainly in the temperate regions but a few in the tropical and colder regions, scattered all over the world. The arrangement followed in the sections and sequence of species is that of Briquet in Engler & Prantl, Pflanzenfamilien, IV. 3a:260. Very few of the species are cult., although there are several with showy spikes. They are usually found in moist or even wet places when growing wild. A tuber-bearing species (S. Sieboldii) has come into notice as a kitchen-garden plant. Betonica carnea, Hort., is offered in the trade, probably a flesh-colored form of S. grandiflora.—Betonica rubra, Hort., is also in the trade, probably a red-fld. form of S. grandiflora. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

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In Greek compounds, signifying a spike.^CH

This article contains a definition from the Glossary of Gardening Terms.