About Stachys byzantina K.Koch
Stachys byzantina K.Koch, commonly called lamb's-ears, are herbaceous perennials usually densely covered in gray or silver-white, silky-lanate hairs. The common name lamb's-ears comes from the curved shape of the leaves and their soft, white, fur-like hair coating. Flowering stems are erect, often branched, typically 4-angled, and grow 40–80 cm tall. The leaves are thick and somewhat wrinkled, densely covered on both sides with gray-silver silky-lanate hairs; leaf undersides are more silver-white than the upper surfaces. Leaves are arranged oppositely on the stems, and measure 5 to 10 cm long. Leaf petioles are semiamplexicaul, meaning their bases wrap halfway around the stem. Basal leaves have oblong-elliptic blades, measuring 10 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, though cultivated forms show variation. Leaf margins are crenulate but covered with dense hairs, and leaf apexes are attenuate, gradually narrowing to a rounded point. Lamb's-ear is commonly grown in children's gardens, as it is easy to grow and its thick felt-like leaves are pleasant to touch. It is also used as an edging plant. In Brazil, it is used as an edible herb called peixinho-da-horta; it is prepared by battering and deep-frying, then sprinkled with lemon juice, and is said to have a fish-like taste. It has sometimes been used as a medicinal plant. A number of cultivars exist, including white-flowering forms, shorter plants, and plants that bloom less often. The known cultivars are: 'Big Ears', which has very large leaves up to 1 foot (30 cm) long; 'Cotton Boll', a sterile cultivar that does not produce flowering stems, propagated asexually; 'Primrose Heron', which has yellow leaves in spring and pink flowers; 'Sheila Macqueen', a sterile, low-growing cultivar with large leaves; 'Silky Fleece', which grows 25 cm tall, produces lilac-plum flowers and smaller white-woolly foliage, and is propagated from seed; 'Silver Carpet', a sterile cultivar with grey leaves, propagated asexually; and 'Striped Phantom', which has variegated leaves. Lamb's-ear is quite popular with a multitude of insects and hummingbirds, particularly bees. One specific bee, the wool carder bee, collects fuzz from the plant's leaves to make nests in decayed wood. Bumble bees have also been documented congregating in the morning to collect water condensation that accumulates on the leaves. Stachys byzantina extract has shown antimicrobial activity against vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Due to its relatively high rate of evapotranspiration, Stachys byzantina is a potentially useful species for rainwater retention and therefore flood prevention.
