Stachys sylvatica L., Hedge Woundwort

Account Summary

Growth form and preferred habitats

Hedge Woundwort is a very common rhizomatous and stoloniferous perennial with thick creeping roots and erect, softly hairy, stout, solid, much-branched, reddish square stems that grow up to 100 cm tall. S. sylvatica is readily distinguished from S. palustris by its long-stalked, ovate, heart-shaped, very coarsely toothed leaves and by a strong, malodorous smell when its tissues are bruised (Grieve 1931; Hutchinson 1972; Garrard & Streeter 1983).

S. sylvatica tends to occupy light- to medium-shaded sites on a variety of mainly fertile, damp to dry soils. The plant prefers moist, decidedly fertile, mildly acid to basic calcareous soils in lightly to moderately shaded, sheltered ground, or in open, disturbed sites where these or other factors restrict the vigour of taller competitors, allowing S. sylvatica to survive and form clonal patches (Grime et al. 1988, 2007). It is particularly frequent in rough grassland on lower ground around the margins of woods and scrub, lakeshores, riverbanks, hedgerows, lightly shaded roadside banks and verges, and in moderately disturbed waste ground including neglected areas in gardens (Garrard & Streeter 1983). It is intolerant of mowing or grazing (Sinker et al. 1985).

Flowering reproduction

Hedge Woundwort flowers during July and August, the inflorescence consisting of a long, interrupted terminal spike of 3-6-flowered whorls (or verticillasters). The reddish-purple or crimson, two-lipped flowers have a corolla 13-18 mm long, with white lines marking the three lobes of the lower lip, the middle lobe is slightly notched, while the upper lip is shallowly hooded. The flowers are bisexual and protandrous (ie male parts mature first), nectar being secreted by a disc at the base of the superior ovary which is characteristically deeply 4-lobed. The solitary style is inserted between the lobes of the ovary and is attached at the base to the receptacle (ie it is gynobasic).

Pollen and copious nectar (the corolla tube sometimes contains nectar for a quarter of its length) attract bees and long-tongued flies that carry out pollination, but if this fails to occur, the flowers will self-pollinate (Melderis & Bangerter 1955). As with all members of the family, each lobe of the ovary becomes in fruit a separate nutlet and, as there is one erect ovule in each, the nutlets are 'achenes' (ie single-seeded dry fruits) (Hutchinson 1948; Hickey & King 1981; Grime et al. 1988, 2007; Sell & Murrrell 2009). The nutlets are smooth, rounded at the top and are most likely dispersed by wind. The species lacks any mechanism of long-range dispersal (Ridley 1930; Grime et al. 1988, 2007). The seed (nutlets) are long-persistent, some surviving at least five years in the soil seed bank (Thompson et al. 1997).

Vegetative reproduction

After flowering, aerial parts die down completely in winter, but vegetative reproduction and spread by means of the buried rhizome and surface stolons continues whenever temperatures are favourable for growth. This appears more immediately significant than seed production in terms of the species' ability to increase, compete and hold onto its ground. The established strategy of S. sylvatica is categorised as C/CR, ie intermediate between Competitor and Competitive-Ruderal (Grime et al. 1988, 2007). S. sylvatica is described as a rapid coloniser of secondary woodland (Peterken 1981) and establishment from mud-transported rhizome fragments and similarly dispersed long-persistent seed are undoubtedly both important in enabling longer-distance transport by human activities and successful colonisation of new territory, although the species has no specially evolved mechanism to achieve this outcome.

Fermanagh occurrence

As the tetrad map indicates, S. sylvatica is widespread in Fermanagh and has been recorded in 240 Fermanagh tetrads, 45.5% of those in the VC. It also more rarely occurs on cliffs (eg the N-facing cliff at Knockmore and those in Bolusty More Td, Cliffs of Magho) and in artificial, man-made habitats including quarries, sand-pits and churchyards (eg Boho Church and Tubbrid).

A hybrid

The hybrid of S. sylvatica with the even more common S. palustris (Marsh Woundwort) (S. × ambigua Sm.) is intermediate in appearance and diagnostic characters between its two parents and is completely sterile (BSBI Plant Crib 1998). The hybrid can be found in the absence of one or both of its parents and it is described as being oddly locally distributed (BSBI Plant Crib 1998). The percentage length of the petiole in comparison with the whole leaf and petiole combined is a good diagnostic character: in S. palustris the figure is 2-9%; in S. sylvatica 30-44%; and in the hybrid 9-16%.

S. × ambigua is described as occasional to frequent in NE Ireland (FNEI 3), but it has not been found, or so far has been overlooked, in Fermanagh. Harron (1986) found there were two forms of the hybrid around Lough Neagh, a more common one closer to S. palustris in character and a rarer one closer to S. sylvatica (Stace et al. 2015).

British and Irish occurrence

S. sylvatica is almost ubiquitous in lowland situations (other than arable and aquatic habitats) throughout both B & I. It is rare, scarce or absent on the more exposed acid peaty soils of the Scottish Highlands and the W of Ireland (New Atlas).

European and world occurrence

The species occurs in most of W & S Europe, but is quite rare in the Mediterranean basin (present on Corsica, Sicily and the Peloponnese) and very rare on Madeira (Press & Short 1994). It extends northwards along the coast of Norway to around 68°N, its most northerly point (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 1599). Also locally present in the mountains of W & C Asia, ie the Caucasus, Kashmir and the Altai. S. sylvatica has been introduced in eastern N America and New Zealand. It belongs to the Eurosiberian temperate element (Sell & Murrell 2009).

Names

Although S. sylvatica carries the name 'Woundwort' or 'all-heal', the herbal medicine virtues that this implies are much better displayed by S. palustris (Marsh Woundwort) and also by the hybrid with this species (S. × ambigua). The distribution of S. × ambigua extends much further north and west of that of the more temperate parent, S. sylvatica, which suggests the hybrid may have been brought into garden cultivation on account of its ease of propagation and sterility, while retaining the valued medicinal properties of a wound-healing, blood stanching herb. The rootstock and stout roots of the hybrid may possibly also have been used as food in some circumstances (Allen & Hatfield 2004).

Threats

None.

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