''Stachys floridana'' is a species of

betony Betony is a common name for a plant which may refer to: *''Stachys'', a genus of plants containing several species commonly known as betony in Europe **'' Stachys officinalis'', a historically important medicinal plant *''Pedicularis ''Pedicular ...

in the mint family,

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

. It is native to the United States, where its true native range is probably limited to Florida, but today it is known throughout the Southeast as an introduced species and common weed.Czarnota, M. and T. Murphy
Controlling Florida Betony in the Landscape.
C 867-11. College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia. 2012. It occurs as far west as Texas, and it has been recorded in California.Weaver, R
Weed of the Month, February, 2010: ''Stachys floridana'', Florida Betony, Rattlesnake Weed.
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry. Its common names include Florida betony, Florida hedgenettle,''Stachys floridana''.
USDA PLANTS. and rattlesnake weed. It has been called wild artichoke, but it is not closely related to artichoke.Burgess, C
Florida Betony.
Home and Garden Information Center. Clemson University Cooperative Extension. 2005, revised 2008. The plant was the Florida Department of Agriculture's "Weed of the Month" for February 2010.

Description

This species is a perennial herb producing a hairy, erect stem up to about half a meter in maximum height. It grows from a network of

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

s with tubers. The distinctive pale-colored tuber is several centimeters long and about one centimeter wide, and is segmented in such a way that it resembles the rattle on the tail of a

rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...

,Hall, D. W., et al
Florida Betony, ''Stachys floridana'' Shuttlew.
Weeds in Florida (SP 37). Florida Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida IFAS. 1991, revised 2006. the inspiration for the common name "rattlesnake weed". The tuber is also said to resemble "a fat

grub Grub can refer to Grub (larva), of the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea, or as a slang term for food. It can also refer to: Places * Grub, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland * Grub, St. Gallen, Switzerland * Grub (Amerang), a hamlet in Bavaria, ...

".Florida Betony (''Stachys floridana'').
North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. The tuber can reportedly grow up to one meter long in sandy soils. The oppositely arranged leaves have blades up to 5.5 centimeters long borne on petioles up to 3.5 centimeters long. Flowers grow in clusters of 3 to 6 from the upper leaf axils. The tubular, hairy calyx of sepals has pointed lobes. The two-lipped corolla is up to 1.3 centimeters long and white to pink with purple spotsFlorida Betony or Rattlesnake Weed: ''Stachys floridana''.
Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide. or darker lines. The fruit is a schizocarp a few centimeters long that splits in half. The seeds are about a millimeter long.

Biology

The plant is a prolific producer of seeds, but it often undergoes vegetative reproduction via its rhizome and tubers. Small segments of rhizome can sprout into new plants, and the transport of the tuber to new areas may be the most common way the plant spreads. The plant grows in disturbed habitat types, such as roadsides, often on wet soils. It grows in turf and in beds of ornamental plants.

Impact

The plant was considered to be a Florida endemic until the 1940s and 1950s, when it began to spread throughout the southeastern United States. Its rhizome system extends easily into the loose soils of cultivated ground, and it became a weed of residential and commercial land. It can be found in lawns and other turfgrass, especially

centipedegrass ''Eremochloa ophiuroides'', or centipedegrass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. Used as a warm season lawn grass, it forms thick sods and spreads by stolons In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "b ...

and

St. Augustine grass St. Augustine grass (''Stenotaphrum secundatum''), also known as buffalo turf in Australia and buffalo grass in South Africa, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is a warm-season lawn grass that is popular for cultivation in tropical ...

. It is a weed of ornamentals, where it can be harder to control than in lawns, because fewer

herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...

s are approved for use on ornamental herbs and shrubs than on turfgrasses. It is one of the worst weeds of the cultivated ornamental leatherleaf fern (''Rumohra adiantiformis'').Stamps, R. H. (1992)
Prodiamine controlled Florida betony (''Stachys floridana'') in leatherleaf fern (''Rumohra adiantiformis'').
''Weed Technology'' 6(4) 961-67. Weed control in ornamentals may require hand-pulling, with careful removal of all the tubers.

Uses

Much like its relative, the Chinese artichoke, the "crisp, succulent" tuber is edible, and has "a pleasingly crunchy texture and a bland, slightly sweet taste".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15368624 floridana Flora of Florida