Marsh Woundwort

Description:

This perennial plant is about 1½-3' tall and either unbranched or sparingly so. The 4-angled central stem is light green to dark purple and covered with fine hairs on all sides. The opposite leaves are up to 4" long and 1¾" across. They are lanceolate-oblong to ovate-oblong in shape, finely serrated along their margins, and either sessile against the stem or with short petioles (less than 1/3" or 8 mm. in length). The upper leaf surface is medium to dark green and finely short-hairy, while the lower surface is light green and finely hairy, especially along the lower sides of major veins. The foliage has an unpleasant bitter smell. The central stem terminates in a spike of flowers about 4-8" long. This spike consists of about 4-12 whorls of flowers, each whorl having several flowers. Each flower is about ½" long, consisting of a short-tubular corolla with 2 lips, a short-tubular calyx with 5 narrow triangular teeth, and the inserted reproductive organs. The corolla is white to light pink with splotches of rosy pink. The upper lip of the corolla is undivided and hairy along its upper surface, while the lower lip is divided into 3 lobes (a central lobe and 2 smaller side lobes). The calyx is green to purplish green and finely hairy. The calyx is green or purplish green; its teeth extend to more than one-half of the length of the corolla tube (excluding the length of the lips). The central stalk of the floral spike is green to dark purple and covered with fine hairs on all sides. The blooming period occurs during the summer and lasts about 1-2 months. Sometimes the flowers have a mild fragrance. After the blooming period, the flowers are replaced by open seed capsules; each capsule contains 4 small nutlets. The root system is rhizomatous and tuberous. Hairy Hedge Nettle often forms clonal colonies of varying size.