Common names:
Rough hedge nettle, rigid hedgenettle
Family:
Scientific name:
Stachys rigida
Main flower color:
Range:
California, west Oregon, far northwest Nevada and small areas of Washington
Height:
Up to 3 feet
Habitat:
Woodland, shady hillsides
Leaves:
Lanceolate or ovate, up to 3.5 inches long, hairy, opposite, with small teeth along the edges
Season:
February to July
The tall, thick, greenish-purple stems of stachys rigida are usually erect but can bend back down towards the ground. Green leaves grow at intervals most of the way up the stem; they have the familiar nettle-like appearance of an uneven, veiny surface covered with fine, short hairs. Stems and bracts are also hairy. Bilaterally symmetric flowers form in rounded clusters of between six and ten blooms, with up to a dozen clusters per stem, one or two inches apart. Each flower has a tubular corolla, colored white with pink or purple blotches, opening to two lips; the upper is undivided but notched, while the longer lower lip is divided into three rounded lobes.
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