Stachys byzantina

http://dutchmasternurseriesltd.com/

This soft biennial plant goes by many names. It was previously named Stachys olympia or it is called S. byzantina olympia (I cannot find who named this, all records of creditable do not use this name). Stachys byzantina was the name given to it by K. Koch and it the one I shall be using. This plant is not to be confused with a close relative S. lanata which is a fuzzy annual and does not grow nearly as tall and tends to grow in clumps. S. byzantina goes by many common names, I've known it as lamb's ear, variations include woolly lamb's ear, fuzzy wuzzy, lamb's tongue, large lamb's ear, and woolly hedgenettle. It is very difficult with common names with this plant because many plants very similar to this plant have the same common names. The Latin name is derived from it's ancestral location where as the common names tend to reflect the large soft leaves.

Rank	Scientific Name and Common Name
Kingdom	Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Asteridae
Order	Lamiales
Family	Lamiaceae – Mint family
Genus	Stachys L. – hedgenettle
Species	Stachys byzantina K. Koch – woolly hedgenettle

http://plants.usda.gov/

I have always liked this plant, it grows as a weed where I was raised and I used to fight my mother over weeding this plant or letting it grow unchecked. The plant can often be found in areas where stinging nettles often grow. It is a good signal plant to me that stinging nettles are close by. I have also used this plant many times for blowing my nose while on a hike. The purple flowers are small but are very lovely too look at against the whitish fur.

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