Windwolf
Crex Meadows ... Host to a Multitude of Flowers and Plants
Hedge Nettle
Stachys palustris -
More commonly known as Marsh hedge-nettle. Other names include hedge nettle and woundwort.
The hedge nettle is common around Crex Meadows. Its beautiful flowers attract many nectar feeding insects.
The Marsh hedge-nettle grows to between 8 and 40 inches tall.
The Marsh hedge-nettle prefers moist meadows, prairies or shores.
The Marsh hedge-nettle flowers are long and hooded, and range from pink to purplish in color with white markings.
Picture on left taken July 1, 2008.
The whorl of flowers on the marsh hedge-nettle circle the stem usually in a pattern of six blooming flowers.
The circling flower blooms can be seperated by an inch or more.
Picture above taken June 26, 2008
The picture above is a close up of one of the flowers.
Picture above taken July 1, 2008.
The picture to the left shows the leaf and stem of the Hedge nettle.
Leaves have very little or no stem and the plants main stem has a square shape.
Stems can sprout out from leaf bases below the main flowerhead, creating multi-head flowers on the hedge-nettle, as this plant is beginning to do.
Below is a close up of the squared stem, leaves and new branches of the Marsh Nettle.
Picture taken July 1, 2008.
Hedge Nettle Taxonomy
| 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 palustris | marsh hedgenettle |