Stachys is one of the largest genera in the flowering plant family Lamiaceae.Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 300, to about 450.
The type species for the genus is Stachys sylvatica. Stachys is in the subfamily Lamioideae. Generic limits and relationships in this subfamily are poorly known.
The distribution of the genus covers Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and North America. Common names include hedgenettle, heal-all, self-heal, woundwort, betony, and lamb's ears. Wood betony, S. officinalis, was the most important medicinal herb to the Anglo-Saxons of early medieval England.
Annual herb, rarely biennial, 12-70 cm high with simple or branched stems, more or less hairy, with long silky, shiny hairs, sometimes with a thickened base and also with glanduliferous hairs. The leaves, 1.5-6.5 by 1.4-5 cm, are ovate, more or less heart-shaped at the base, with teeth that are sometimes flat and curved upwards, mucronated; those below are long petiolated, with a petiole of 1.7-5.5 cm. Inflorescence formed by 4-18 whorls with 2-6 flowers each, more or less separated, generally close in the apical part.
This plant might be poisonous
How to get rid of:
Annuals with shallow fibrous roots can be removed by pulling by hand after prying up with a shovel from underneath to loosen the ground.
Pulling weeds by hand is time-consuming, back-breaking work. An alternative is to use gardening tools to help. For shallow-rooted weeds, you can use a regular garden hoe, but for deep-rooted ones, I recommend you use a special tool called a winged weeder.
To remove weeds with the winged weeder, place the bottom tip of the blade right next to the stem and press down vertically to push the blade into the soil and then tilt the weeder downwards towards the ground to pull the whole root out. Repeat this operation as necessary.
