![Stachys palustris - inflorescence](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Stachys_palustris_-_inflorescence.jpg)
''Stachys palustris'', commonly known as marsh woundwort,
clown's woundwort, clown's heal-all, marsh hedgenettle, or hedge-nettle,
[Dickinson, T.; Metsger, D.; Bull, J.; & Dickinson, R. (2004) ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario. Toronto:Royal Ontario Museum, p. 298.] is an edible
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...
herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
growing to 80 centimeters tall. It is native to parts of Eurasia but has been introduced to North America.
[ The species ]epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
''palustris'' is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat.
Description
Marsh woundwort is a perennial plant growing from a horizontal tuberous runner. It has square stems with opposite pairs of leaves that are almost stalkless, linearly lanceolate
The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular o ...
, slightly cordate
Cordate is an adjective meaning 'heart-shaped' and is most typically used for:
* Cordate (leaf shape), in plants
* Cordate axe, a prehistoric stone tool
See also
* Chordate
A chordate () is an animal of the phylum Chordata (). All chordat ...
at the base and toothed. The calyx has five sharply-pointed lobes. The purplish-red flowers are in terminal spikes, with gaps in the lower part of the spike. They are arranged in whorls, each flower consisting of five fused petals, the corolla being two-lipped, the upper lip being gently hooded and the lower lip flat and three-lobed. The flowers are mostly visited by bumblebee
A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...
s. There are four stamen
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...
s, two long and two short and the fruit is a dry four-chambered schizocarp
A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps.
There are different definitions:
* Any dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate.
: Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more seeds (the m ...
.[Webb, D.A., Parnell, J. and Doogue, D. (1996) ''An Irish Flora.'' Dundalgan Press (W.Tempest) Ltd. ]
Distribution and habitat
The marsh woundwort is native to Europe and Asia. Its typical habitat is near the shore of lakes, in marshes with alder
Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...
trees, on the banks of ditches and streams, in damp meadows, in arable ground and in waste places. In arable land, it is a difficult weed
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...
to get rid of because of its persistent tuber
Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...
s.[
]
Ecology
Although the marsh woundwort has little fragrance, it is very attractive to bumblebees. Nectar indicators guide the insect to probe into the centre of the flower and the anther
The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10
Morphology and terminology
A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...
s of the stamens and the pistil
Gynoecium (; ) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more) ''pistils'' ...
s are correctly located for the insect to transfer pollen
Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...
between flowers. The seeds of this plant disperse well, the dry fruit capsules float away and this probably why the plant is frequently found on the banks of lakes and other bodies of water. It also spreads vegetatively by means of hollow tuberous root which can throw up shoots far from the original plant.[
]
Uses
As their common names suggest, along with its close relatives field woundwort and hedge woundwort
''Stachys sylvatica'', commonly known as hedge woundwort, whitespot, or sometimes as hedge nettle, is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to tall in woodland and unmanaged grassland. In temperate zones of the northern hemisphere it flowers in ...
it is used to promote the healing of wounds. Wort is a middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
word for a herb or vegetable.
References
External links
Interactive Agricultural Ecological Atlas of Russia & Neighboring Countries
{{Taxonbar, from=Q158392
palustris
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus