Do you know this plant with soft hairy silver-white leaves?
Please, help me to identify this herb with gray or silver-white, silky soft leaves with fur-like hair coating. The leaves are so soft looking that you just want to touch and pet the plant 🙂
This herb has tall spike-like stems with small and light purple flowers. Seems the bees like this plant as there were many bees around. I saw it in France.
Here are some photos:
Thank you in advance for your answers.
It is Stachys byzantina or commonly known as lamb’s-ear, and woolly hedgenettle. Plants are very often found under the synonym Stachys lanata or Stachys olympica.
Lamb’s-ear plants are perennial herbs. They are usually densely covered with gray or silver-white, silky hairs. Because of their leaves shape and white, soft, fur-like hair coating the plant got its name lamb’s ears.
Stachys byzantina is also a medicinal herb. Its extract has shown antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to vancomycin.
Lambs ears for sure.
Some say the plant originated in the Middle East, near Turkey and Iran. But others say that it is a native to the Caucasus Mountains in Europe. By the way, Lamb’s ear is a member of the Lamiaceae family, related to mint.
For centuries Lambs ears were used as a wound dressing. The plant does have antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties and is absorbent. Because of these properties, it’s also called “wooly woundwort.” Besides the sopping up of blood and use as a dressing, lamb’s ear has also been used as a poultice and has analgesic properties. It was even used for centuries as a “women’s comfort” for hemorrhoids, menstrual flow, birthing, for nervous tension, and as a skin aid.
