Author
Latoya Guy
Common Name(s)
mouseear, shade betony
Electronic links
Plant Profile in Plants Database: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MYMA
Ecology
Grows in shaded rocky or gravelly soils in woods, ravines in prairies, on banks, roadsides, and in open ground.
Family
LAMIACEAE, LABIATEAE, mint family
Flowering period
February to May.
Flowers
Calyx campanulate, 3-5 mm long, 5-10 nervate, the lobes subequal and usually shorter than the tube.
Corolla bilabiate, 5-6 mm long, pink-lavender, pink to blue or rarely white, glabrous except the bearded upper lip, the lobes of the lower lip rounded or the middle one barely emarginate.
Stamens 4, epipetalous, 1 pair slightly longer than the other.
Pistil bicarpellate, style gynobasic, apex somewhat unequally forked, branches about as long as or shorter than the style diameter; ovary 4-lobed, each lobe with one ovule.
Fruit
Nutlets ovoid to oblong, dark brown, glabrous or rarely pubescent, surface somewhat shiny and ridged.
Geographic distribution
Mostly southern states, Arizona to Florida.
Inflorescences
Flowers in terminal, interrupted bracteate spikes, rarely axillary; bract oval to nearly orbicular, subulate-tipped.
Leaves
Leaves opposite, ovate to oblong 4 cm. long, obtuse at apex, crenate, truncate to cordate at base, the lower ones with petioles as long or longer than blade, the uppermost sessile.
Plant and Stem Features
Annual or biennial; Stem usually branched at the base, the branches erect or decumbent, to 3 dm tall, hirsute.
References
Correll, Donovan and M. Johnston. 1970. Manual of Vascular Plants of
USDA, NRCS. 2007. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 10 May 2007).
Species name
Stachys crenata Raf.
Synonyms
Stachys agraria auct. non Cham. & Schlecht.
Wetland Indicator Status
FACU+