| Woundwort
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Illustration_Stachys_sylvatica0.jpg
Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica)
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| Scientific classification
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| Species
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About 300 species, including:
Stachys affinis
Stachys alopecuros
Stachys alpina
Stachys annua
Stachys bullata
Stachys byzantina
Stachys candida
Stachys chrysantha
Stachys ciliata
Stachys citrina
Stachys coccinea
Stachys corsica
Stachys cretica
Stachys discolor
Stachys ehrenbergii
Stachys germanica
Stachys hyssopifolia
Stachys iva
Stachys lavandulifolia
Stachys libanotica
Stachys macrantha
Stachys macrostachya
Stachys officinalis
Stachys pumila
Stachys recta
Stachys riddellii
Stachys sylvatica
Stachys sylvestris
Stachys tenuifolia
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Woundwort is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants and shrubs in the family Lamiaceae. The distribution of the genus covers Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and North America.
The stems vary from 50-300 cm tall, with simple, opposite triangular leaves 1-14 cm long with serrated margins; in most species the leaves are softly hairy. The flowers are 1.2 cm long, clustered in the axils of the leaves on the upper part of the stem, the corolla 5-lobed with the top lobe forming a 'hood', varying from white to pink, purple, red or pale yellow.
One species, S. affinis, the Chinese artichoke, has an edible tuber.
The name of the plant derives from its past use in herbal medicine for the treatment of wounds.
"General Woundwort", named after the plant, is a rabbit in the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams.
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