Stachys japonica Miq.:
Japan (Asia)
Russian Federation (Asia)
China (Asia)

Stachys chinensis Bunge ex Benth.:
Russian Federation (Asia)
China (Asia)

Stachys ambigua (A. Gray) Britton:
United States (North America)

Stachys hyssopifolia var. ambigua A. Gray:
United States (North America)

Stachys aspera Michx.:
Canada (North America)
United States (North America)

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Used medicinally for tonsillitis, sore throat, and dysentery.

Herbs perennial, rhizomatous. Stems unbranched, ascending, 20-80 cm, glabrous, angles and nodes minutely hispid. Petiole conspicuous, 0.3-1.7 cm; leaf blade broadly oblong-lanceolate, 5-10 × 1-2.3 cm, glabrous, abaxially gray-green, base rounded to shallowly cordate, margin crenate-serrate, apex acute. Spikes 5-13 cm; verticillasters 6-8-flowered, lower widely spaced; floral leaves sessile, lanceolate, margin subentire, lower ones longer than verticillasters, upper shorter; bracteoles spiny, ca. 1 mm, glabrous. Pedicel ca. 1 mm. Calyx campanulate, to 7.5 mm, glandular puberulent, veins pilose, rarely appressed-puberulent or subglabrous, obscurely 10-veined; teeth equal, triangular-lanceolate, spinescent, ciliate, sparsely puberulent inside. Corolla reddish or reddish purple, ca. 1.2 cm; tube ca. 6 mm, ± included, saccate, glabrous, throat scaly-puberulent below lower lip; limb puberulent outside, glabrous inside; upper lip straight, obovate, ca. 4 × 2.5 mm; lower lip spreading, ca. 7 × 6 mm; middle lobe subcircular, emarginate; lateral lobes ovate. Filaments slightly dilated at apex, puberulent. Style slightly longer than stamens. Nutlets brown, ovoid, glabrous. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Aug-Sep.

Herbs erect, perennial. Stems ca. 60 cm, unbranched or branched at base, glabrous, angles and nodes sparsely retrorse villous-hispid. Petiole (0-)2-5 mm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 5.5-8.5 × 1-1.5 cm, sparsely minutely hispid or glabrescent, base subrounded, margin serrate-crenate, apex obtuse. Verticillasters 6-flowered, widely spaced; floral leaves sessile, upper blades lanceolate, villous hispid, sessile, margin subentire; bracteoles spiny, ca. 1 mm. Pedicel short to obsolete. Calyx campanulate, ca. 1 cm, veins and margin villous-hispid, accessory veins inconspicuous; teeth lanceolate, equal, ca. 4 mm, apex acute, spinescent. Corolla purple, ca. 1.5 cm, lips puberulent; tube ca. 8 mm, straight, slightly saccate; upper lip erect, oblong, ca. 4 × 2 mm; lower lip spreading, subcircular, ca. 7 × 7 mm; middle lobe subcircular, ca. 3 × 4 mm, emarginate; lateral lobes ovate, ca. 2 mm wide. Nutlets brown, triquetrous, ovoid, glabrous. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Jul-Sep.

Stachys aspera Michaux var. chinensis (Bunge ex Bentham) Maximowicz f. glabrata Nakai; S. aspera var. japonica (Miquel) Maximowicz; S. baicalensis Fischer ex Bentham var. japonica V. Komarov; S. japonica f. glabrata Matsumura & Kudo; S. riederi Chamisso var. japonica (Miquel) H. Hara.

Stachys aspera Michaux var. chinensis (Bunge ex Bentham) Maximowicz; S. baicalensis Fischer ex Bentham var. chinensis (Bunge ex Bentham) V. Komarov; S. chanetii H. Léveillé.

Wet areas in ravines, riverbanks; 0-2300 m. Anhui, Fujian, Hebei, Henan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shandong, Zhejiang [Japan, Russia].

Sandy areas, ravines; 0-1000 m. Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shanxi [Russia].

Stachys aspera (Hyssop Hedge Nettle)
(bees suck nectar or collect pollen, flies suck nectar or feed on pollen, while wasps suck nectar only; all observations are from Conger)

Bees (long-tongued)
Apidae (Bombini): Bombus affinis sn/cp (Cng), Bombus fervida sn/cp (Cng); Megachilidae (Megachilini): Megachile latimanus sn/cp (Cng)

Bees (short-tongued)
Halictidae (Halictinae): Agapostemon sericea sn/cp (Cng); Andrenidae (Andreninae): Andrena carlini sn/cp (Cng)

Wasps
Sphecidae (Bembicinae): Microbembex monodonta sn (Cng); Vespidae (Eumeninae): Euodynerus foraminatus sn (Cng)

Flies
Syrphidae: Sphaerophoria contiqua sn/fp (Cng)

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N4 - Apparently Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure

Comments: Kartesz 1999 lumps Stachys hyssopifolia var. ambigua and S. tenuifolia var. aspera into Stachys aspera. In Kartesz 1994, Stachys hyssopifolia var. ambigua was recognized as distinct with S. aspera listed as a synonym of it, and S. tenuifolia var. aspera was included in S. tenuifolia var. tenuifolia.