Pronunciation: STAY-kiss py-LOH-suh
Pink flowers rise in tiers above opposite, toothed leaves on this native perennial. Look closely at the hairy stem faces and nearly stalkless leaves to distinguish it from similar hedge nettles.
Hairy Hedge Nettle at Illinois Beach State Park. Tap the photograph to enlarge.
Family Lamiaceae · mint family
Life cycle Perennial
Blooms Summer
Height Commonly 1½–3 feet
Habitat Moist meadows, prairie swales, wetland margins and woodland edges
Common name
Hairy Hedge Nettle
Explore photographed sightings and their locations.
Stems: square, with hairs on the flat faces as well as the corners.
Leaves: opposite, toothed and hairy, with little or no stalk.
Flowers: pink to lavender, with a hooded upper lip and a three-lobed lower lip marked with darker streaks.
Calyx: hairy, with pointed teeth that taper gradually.
Search moist, sunny to lightly shaded ground during summer. Prairie swales and wetland edges are useful places to look. These photographs were taken at Illinois Beach State Park and Scuppernong Prairie. Include a middle stem segment and both sides of a leaf when documenting a plant.
A native North American hedge nettle. Use the BONAP atlas for county records and iNaturalist for reported observations. Taxonomic treatments differ, so older records may be filed under the broader Stachys palustris group.
Observations show reported sightings; they do not define the plant’s complete native range.
Several flowers form a whorl, and successive whorls build the terminal spike. A side photograph shows the spacing between tiers and the relationship of each flower to the leafy bracts below it.
The leaf-and-stem photograph shows the short leaf attachments and hairy square stem. Hair on the flat faces is a particularly useful distinction from Stachys hispida, whose stiff hairs are concentrated along the corners. Check several stem sections, as hair density varies.
Bees visit the flowers for nectar and pollen. The lower lip provides a landing surface, while the upper lip arches over the reproductive parts. Watch a flowering patch for bumblebees and smaller bees.
Stachys hispida is labeled Hispid Hedge Nettle on this site and typically has smooth stem faces between hairy corners. Flower color alone is not enough to separate them.
Some regional references include this native group within Stachys palustris, using the common name Marsh Hedge Nettle. Photographs formerly listed under that broader treatment on this site are consolidated here under Stachys pilosa. The older name Stachys palustris var. arenicola is also encountered. These photographs are identified here without assigning a variety.
Study the photographs and field notes for Hairy Hedge Nettle, then practice identifying this and other wildflowers in the quiz.
