Stachys pycnantha

Short-spiked hedge nettle

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Short-spiked hedge nettle is a California native perennial found in northwestern, central western, and Sierra Nevada regions in streambanks, springs, and pine/oak forests at elevations below 1,100 meters. Flowering from June to October, this plant produces white to pink flowers in dense clusters of 8 to 12 blossoms. Growing with decumbent to erect stems 30 to 100 centimeters tall that are soft to stiffly hairy and glandular, it has multiple branches and a strongly aromatic character. Its leaves are ovate to lanceolate, 5 to 12 centimeters long, with crenate to serrate edges and a rounded to heart-shaped base, covered in soft to stiff hairs and glandular surfaces. The flower's white to pink corolla features an oblique upper lip 3 to 4 millimeters long and a lower lip 5 to 7 millimeters long, with a distinctive ring of hairs above the base of the tube.

Habitat: Streambanks, springs, pine/oak forest

Bloom period: Jun-Oct

Elevation: < 1100 m

Bioregions: NW, SN (uncommon), CW, PR.

California counties: Butte, Santa Clara, Sierra, San Luis Obispo, Marin, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Alameda, San Benito, Colusa, Contra Costa, Plumas, Santa Cruz, Solano, Tehama, Sonoma, Trinity, Fresno, Riverside, San Diego, Siskiyou, Mendocino, Ventura

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.