What is "stachys"

Nettle \Net"tle\, n. [AS. netele; akin to D. netel, G. nessel, OHG. nezz["i]la, nazza, Dan. nelde, n["a]lde, Sw. n["a]ssla; cf, Lith. notere.] (Bot.) A plant of the genus Urtica, covered with minute sharp hairs containing a poison that produces a stinging sensation. Urtica gracilis is common in the Northern, and Urtica cham[ae]dryoides in the Southern, United States. The common European species, Urtica urens and Urtica dioica, are also found in the Eastern united States. Urtica pilulifera is the Roman nettle of England. Note: The term nettle has been given to many plants related to, or to some way resembling, the true nettle; as: Australian nettle, a stinging tree or shrub of the genus Laportea (as Laportea gigas and Laportea moroides); -- also called nettle tree. Bee nettle, Hemp nettle, a species of Galeopsis. See under Hemp. Blind nettle, Dead nettle, a harmless species of Lamium. False nettle ( B[ae]hmeria cylindrica), a plant common in the United States, and related to the true nettles. Hedge nettle, a species of Stachys. See under Hedge. Horse nettle ( Solanum Carolinense). See under Horse. nettle tree.

1. Same as Hackberry.

2. See Australian nettle (above).

   Spurge nettle, a stinging American herb of the Spurge family ( Jatropha urens).

   Wood nettle, a plant ( Laportea Canadensis) which stings severely, and is related to the true nettles.

   Nettle cloth, a kind of thick cotton stuff, japanned, and used as a substitute for leather for various purposes.

   Nettle rash (Med.), an eruptive disease resembling the effects of whipping with nettles.

   Sea nettle (Zo["o]l.), a medusa.

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, Stachys officinalis, was the most important medicinal herb to the Anglo-Saxons of early medieval Great Britain.

The Chinese artichoke ( S. affinis), is grown for its edible tuber. Several species are cultivated as ornamentals. Woolly Betony ( S. byzantina) is a popular decorative garden plant.

Stachys was named by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753. The name is derived from the Greek word σταχυς (stachys), meaning "an ear of grain", and refers to the fact that the inflorescence is often a spike. The name woundwort derives from the past use of certain species in herbal medicine for the treatment of wounds.

Stachys species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the moths Coleophora auricella, C. lineolea, and C. wockeella, all recorded on S. officinalis. They are also widely used by the European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum), which scrape the hairs from the plant in order to use them for building their nests.