Stachys cretica

Mediterranean wounwort                                                                                      Σάχυς


Lamaceae - mint family                                                                                    Dicot.

 
 

Found in rocky places and on Mediterranean grassland, Stachys cretica is an attractive plant; loved by children, who call it lambs ears ,because of its soft felty leaves. It is one of many plants collected in Greece to make mountain tea and it is thought to have sedative and antispasmodic properties. Plants from the Stachys genus have been recognised since ancient times to have antiseptic properties, although some have an unpleasant taste or smell and some are poisonous.

It is a valuable plant to bee keepers and is  as it is frequently visited by bees to collect pollen and to feed on nectar, but a more unusual activity is performed by certain bees, of scraping hairs off the leaves, forming them into a ball and carrying them off to form brood cells: they have been given the name of wool-carder bees (Antidium manicatum).

8-10mm,15-30cm,
12-40cm,
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