Genus Betonica L. 

Род 685 (24). РАНИЛИСТ — BETONICA L.¹

L., Sp. Pl., ed. 1 (1753) 573; Gen. Pl., ed. 5 (1754).

Fam:   Labiatae Juss. (Lamiaceae)
Genus:   Betonica L.
English Name: Common hedgenettle

Description:

Perennial herbaceous plants with short rhizome. Stem upright, not branched or thin branched into the inflorescence. Leaves entire, round or sharp jagged; at the base with long petioles, usually assembled in a rosette, the stem leaves with short petioles, the upper ones sitting down. Inflorescence dense corn-like, composed of multiblossom vertebrae, the lowest 1 - 2 usually distant. The flowers with bracts almost equal to the calyx. The calyx tubular with 5 identical teeth and 5 (10) vague veins. Corolla purple or white; the tube longer than the calyx, inside without a ring of hairs. Stamens 4, two-sided, with parallel anthers, after flowering, not sideways. The walnuts are three-legged, elongated with short, thin, serrated appendages on the upper edge. Insect pollinated plants; propagated with seeds and root shoots.

Table for determination of the species 1   Plant covered with simple and stars hairs. Anthers purple. The crown white to pale pink ........................................... 4. - B. scardica Griseb. 1* Plant more or less simply fibrous, without star-shaped hair. The anthers yellow. The corolla white, pale or dark purple ............................... .............................................................................................................................................................................. 1 - 3. Group B. officinalis. 1 - 3. Group B. officinalis      The stem and leaves are more or less fibrous, the calyx is fibrous or at the base almost naked, the crown is white or purple. 1   Calyx teeth short-pointed, two times shorter than the tube ............................................................................................. 1. - B. officinalis L. 1* The calyx teeth spinal, almost equal to the tube ........................................................................................................................................... 2 2    Light-purple blossoms; flower vertebrae assembled in a short, dense class .................................................... 2. - B. bulgarica Deg. et Neič. 2* White blossoms; vertebrae in more or less elongated corn-like ......................................................................... 3. - B. haussknechtii Uechtr. ¹ Developed by J. Koeva. From:  „Флора на Н Р България”, том IX, БАН, София, (1989)

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Betonica

The genus Betonica is in the family Lamiaceae in the major group Angiosperms (Flowering plants).
Statistics are at the end of the page.
From:  www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Lamiaceae/Betonica/

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Stachys is one of the largest genera in the flowering plant family Lamiaceae.[3] Estimates of the number of species in the genus vary from about 300,[3] to about 450.[4] The type species for the genus is Stachys sylvatica.[5] Stachys is in the subfamily Lamioideae.[3] Generic limits and relationships in this subfamily are poorly known.
The distribution of the genus covers Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and North America. Common names include hedgenettle,[6] heal-all, self-heal, woundwort, betony, and lamb's ears. Wood betony, S. officinalis, was the most important medicinal herb to the Anglo-Saxons of early medieval England.
The Chinese artichoke (S. affinis), is grown for its edible tuber.[4] Several species are cultivated as ornamentals. Woolly betony (S. byzantina) is a popular decorative garden plant.
Stachys was named by Linnaeus in Species Plantarum in 1753.[7] The name is derived from the Greek word σταχυς (stachys), meaning "an ear of grain",[8] and refers to the fact that the inflorescence is often a spike. The name woundwort derives from the past use of certain species in herbal medicine for the treatment of wounds.
Stachys species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including the moths Coleophora auricella, C. lineolea, and C. wockeella, all recorded on S. officinalis. They are also widely used by the European wool carder bee (Anthidium manicatum), which scrape the hairs from the plant in order to use them for building their nests.[9]

Description

Stachys is a genus of shrubs and annual or perennial herbs. The stems vary from 50–300 cm (20–120 in) tall, with simple, opposite, triangular leaves, 1–14 cm (0.4–5.5 in) long with serrate margins. In most species, the leaves are softly hairy. The flowers are 1 to 2 cm (0.4 to 0.8 in) long, clustered in the axils of the leaves on the upper part of the stem. The corolla is 5-lobed with the top lobe forming a 'hood', varying from white to pink, purple, red or pale yellow.

Circumscription

The distinction between Stachys and other genera is unclear and has varied from one author to another. In 2002, a molecular phylogenetic study showed that Stachys officinalis is not closely related to the rest of the genus.[10] This study also found six other genera to be embedded within Stachys as it is currently circumscribed. The embedded genera are Prasium, Phlomidoschema, Sideritis, Haplostachys, Phyllostegia, and Stenogyne.

Fossil record

†Stachys pliocenica fossil seeds are known from Upper Miocene strata of Bulgaria and Pliocene strata of south-eastern Belarus. The fossil seeds are similar to the seeds of Stachys cretica.[11]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Stachys officinalis is commonly known as common hedgenettle, betony, purple betony, wood betony, bishopwort, or bishop's wort. The French common name is betoine, and Betonie in German. It is a perennial grassland herb. Wikipedia
Scientific name: Stachys officinalis
Higher classification: Hedgenettles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Distribution in Bulgaria: (Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora) = conspectus&gs_l= Zlc. Distribution:

References: „Флора на Н Р България”, том IX, БАН, София, (1989), www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Lamiaceae/Betonica/, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SPECIES:

Betonica officinalis L. - Betony, Purple betony, Wood betony, Bishopwort, or Bishop's wort

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