Stachys is a genus of plants, one of the largest in the mint family Lamiaceae.[Harley, R. M., et al. 2004. "Labiatae". pages 167–275. In: Kubitzki, K. (editor) and J. W. Kadereit (volume editor). The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants volume VII. Springer-Verlag: Berlin; Heidelberg, Germany. ] Estimates of the number of species vary from about 300,[Mabberley, D. J. 2008. Mabberley's Plant-Book third edition (2008). Cambridge University Press: UK.] Stachys is in the subfamily Lamioideae[ Stachys In: Index Nominum Genericorum. In: Regnum Vegetabile (see External links below).] The precise extent of the genus and its relationship to other genera in the subfamily are poorly known.
Range and naming
The distribution of the genus covers
Europe,
Asia,
Africa,
Australasia and
North America.
include
hedgenettle,
,
self-heal,
woundwort,
betony,
Monty plant and
lamb's ears. Wood betony,
S. officinalis, was the most important
Herbalism to the
of early
medieval England, and was used for many medicinal purposes from Ancient Roman times to the Early Modern period.
Stachys was Botanical name by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753.[Carolus Linnaeus. 1753. Species Plantarum 2:580. Laurentii Salvii. (see External Links below).] The name is Etymology from the Greek word σταχυς ( stachys), meaning "an ear of grain",[Umberto Quattrocchi. 2000. CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names volume I, page 91. CRC Press: Boca Raton; New York; Washington, DC;, USA. London, UK. (set). (see External links below).] and refers to the fact that the inflorescence is often a Raceme. The name woundwort derives from the past use of certain species in herbalism for the treatment of wounds.
Human uses
The Chinese artichoke or Crosne (
Stachys affinis), is grown for its edible
tuber.
Several species are
Horticulture as
Ornamental plant. Woolly betony (
S. byzantina) is a popular decorative garden plant. Wood betony (
S. officinalis) was historically a highly valued medicinal plant.
Use by other species
Stachys species are used as food plants by the
of some
Lepidoptera species, including the
Coleophora auricella,
C. lineolea, and
C. wockeella, all recorded on
S. officinalis. They are also widely used by the European wool carder bee (
Anthidium manicatum), which scrape the hairs from the plant in order to use them for building their nests.
Description
Stachys is a
genus of
and
Annual plant or
perennial plant Herbaceous plant. The
Plant stem vary from tall, with simple,
Phyllotaxis,
Leaf shape leaf, long with serrate margins. In most species, the leaves are softly hairy. The
are long, clustered in the axils of the leaves on the upper part of the stem. The corolla is 5-lobed with the top lobe forming a 'hood', varying from white to pink, purple, red or pale yellow.
Circumscription
The distinction between
Stachys and other genera is unclear and has varied from one author to another. In 2002, a molecular phylogenetic
Research showed that
Stachys officinalis is not closely related to the rest of the genus.
[Lindqvist, C. and V. A. Albert. 2002. Origin of the Hawaiian endemic mints within North American Stachys (Lamiaceae). American Journal of Botany 89(10), 1709–24.] This study also found six other genera to be
Paraphyly within
Stachys as it is currently circumscribed. The embedded genera are
Prasium,
Phlomidoschema,
Sideritis,
Haplostachys,
Phyllostegia, and
Stenogyne.
Fossil record
†
Stachys pliocenica fossil seeds are known from Upper
Miocene strata of Bulgaria and
Pliocene strata of south-eastern Belarus. The fossil seeds are similar to the seeds of
Stachys cretica.
[The Pliocene flora of Kholmech, south-eastern Belarus and its correlation with other Pliocene floras of Europe by Felix Yu. Velichkevich and Ewa Zastawniak - Acta Palaeobot. 43(2): 137–259, 2003]
Diversity
Selected species include:
Formerly placed here
-
Agastache foeniculum (Pursh) Kuntze (as S. foeniculum Pursh)
-
Leonurus japonicus Houtt. (as S. artemisia Lour.)
-
Stachys monieri (Gouan) P.W.Ball, now in the synonymy of Betonica officinalis
-
Betonica macrantha K.Koch (as S. macrantha (K.Koch) Stearn)
-
Betonica officinalis L. (as S. officinalis (L.) Trevis.)
External links
