Plant: perennial herb; rhizomatous herbs, gray-green; hairs dense, appressed; stems to 19 cm tall

Leaves: 3-4 cm long, 0.5-1.2 cm wide; petioles broad, to 1 mm long; blades oblong to narrowly elliptic; margins finely, shallowly serrate, to entire; bases short-attenuate at petiole

INFLORESCENCE: with the lower bracts leafy, the others reduced, the uppermost longer than the sepals

Flowers: calyx nearly actinomorphic, 5-7 mm long; corolla dull brownish-orange with purplish markings, 7-11 mm long, the tube included or slightly exserted

Fruit: NUTLETS 1.5-2.5 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, obovate, slightly roughened

Misc: Grassland to ponderosa pine; 1500-2500 m (5000-8200 ft); Jun-Sep

REFERENCES: Christy, Charlotte M. 2003. Lamiaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 35(2).

General: Perennial, 10-30 cm tall; stems erect or decumbent, simple or branched, herbage villous-tomentose; rhizomes slender.

Leaves: Cauline, crowded, opposite, simple, oblong or narrowly elliptic, 2-6 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, villous-tomentose, margins entire or inconspicuously toothed; blades sessile or nearly so.

Flowers: Solitary in the axils of slightly reduced upper leaves; pedicels about 2 mm long; calyx 3.5-4.5 mm long, bearing a raised appendage on or near the upper lip; corolla 1.5- 2 cm long, blue, the upper lip arched and hood-like; stamens 4; flowers June-August.

Fruits: Nutlets 4.

Ecology: Pine forests, slopes, roadsides; 1500-2300 m (5000-7500 ft); Apache, Coconino, Navajo, Yavapai counties; southwestern U.S.

Notes: Stachys palustris (hairy hedge nettle) is a perennial, 15-80 tall; stems are usually several, with spreading or downward-pointing hairs, especially on the angles, sometimes also with glandular hairs; leaves are lance- triangular, lance-ovate, or elliptic, 2-9 cm long, margins crenate; blades are sessile; inflorescence is a series of verticils arising in the axils of leaves to progressively reduced bracts; corolla is 8-15 mm long, pale rose or lavender, often mottled with purple or white. It typically occurs along streams, lakeshores, and other moist habitats at 2100-3000 m (7000-10000 ft). Two additional species of Stachys may occur in our area but are generally uncommon. Stachys coccinea (scarlet hedgenettle) is distinguished by its petiolate leaves and bright red corolla. It is mostly found south of our range, but has been collected in the White Mountains of Apache County. Stachys crenata (mousesear), which has been reported in the White Mountains of Apache and Navajo counties, is distinguished by its small flowers, the corolla up to 4 mm long. The Navajo use S. rothrockii as a foot deodorant.

Editor: Springer et al. 2008