Mexican hedge-nettle (Mexican hedgenettle)
Lamiaceae (Mint family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from rhizome; stems erect, 30-100 cm tall, simple or branched, 4-angled, spreading-hairy on the angles, some hairs glandular.
Leaves:
Opposite, narrowly egg-shaped, 2-12 cm long, 1.5-8 cm wide, coarsely blunt-toothed, sparsely-hairy; stalked; somewhat reduced and shorter-stalked upward.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of several to many flowers in open terminal clusters, often with additional flower clusters in leaf axils, subtended by slightly reduced leaves or bracts; corollas tubular, pink or pink-purple, the tube 8-13 mm long, 2-lipped, the upper lip erect, entire, the lower lip 3-lobed; calyces tubular, spreading-hairy, sometimes glandular, ring of hairs within, teeth broadly lance-triangular, shorter than the tube, spine-tipped.
Fruits:
Nutlets, 4 clustered together.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
90 | 3 | 820 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
3 | 0 | 80 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
189 | 10 | 340 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 4 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
130 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CWH | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CDF(1), CWH(125), ICH(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to mesic forests, forest margins, swamps, thickets and clearings in the lowland zone; infrequent in coastal BC; N to S AK and S to CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Stachys ciliata Douglas ex Benth.
Stachys emersonii Piper
Taxonomic Keys
KEY TO STACHYS
1. Plants annuals......................................................................S. arvensis 1. Plants perennials. 2. Plants densely covered with soft, white hairs...........................S. byzantina 2. Plants not white-hairy. 3. Leaves unstalked, at least those of upper half of stem.............. S. palustris 3. Leaves all stalked. 4. Plants 70-150 cm tall; corollas deep red-purple; tubes 15-23 mm long.......................S. chamissonis 4. Plants 30-80 cm tall; corollas pale pink to pink-purple, tubes 8-13 mm long....................S. mexicana Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |