Plant Story--Silky-leaved Lamb's Ears, Stachys byzantina

Lamb's ears, Stachys byzantina, is a mint brought from Tuirkey, Armenia, Iran, and Azerbaijan in western Asia, to be a garden plant.

lamb's ears, Stachys byzantina

What attracted people to it were the long silky hairs on its leaves. They give it the name lamb's ear. (Or lamb's ear but most of my sources write "ears.") There are about 400 species in the genus Stachys, a few native to North America. Generally they are called hedgenettles, and lamb's ears is also called woolly hedgenettle. Some places list bear's ear and woolly woundwort as alternate common names. 

Stachys is a Greek word for spike, referring to the flower stalks. The species epithet byzantina means "of Byzantium," the general region where it is native. It is a member of the huge mint family, Lamiaceae.

Lambs' ears' long fuzzy leaves form a dense clump on the ground, crowding other plants out and making an excellent ground cover.

leaves of lamb's ears, Stachys byzantina

Small pink-purple flowers appear on the flower stalks. 

flowers of lamb's ears, 

Stachys byzantina

Generally, the flowers open first near the bottom of the flower stalk and open ever higher up, but as you can see, sometimes lower and higher flowers are flowering at the same time. 

flowers of lambs' ears, Stachys byzantina

The flowers are attractive to a wide variety of pollinators. I often have a bee mimic--a fly that looks and sounds like a bee--patrolling through the flower heads, as if it was its territory and any other bee mimics would be chased away. 

They produce a lot of small seeds and in good conditions, self-seed well. In a few U.S. states lamb's ears has escaped to become a weed. 

lamb's ears, Stachys byzantina

Everyone writes of how lamb's ears leaves are loved by small children, who pet them. For the plant, the long soft gray hairs on the leaves protect the leaves from insects, reduce the heat load on the leaves and slow water loss. 

I cannot find folklore for lamb's ears. Its relatives such as betony (Stachys offinalis now Betonica officinalis) are more famous in Europe. 

Online sites tout lamb's ears as a medicinal, claiming Medieval soldiers and Civil War soldiers carried or used lamb's ears' leaves as improvised bandages. I do not find the plant in modern books on medicinal plants. 

I do not think it was available in the Middle Ages in Europe. It is not very clear when lamb's ears was planted outside its native range but it appears to have been introduced to England for gardens about 1780. It does not appear in European herb books. 

Was it used in the American Civil War? It came to the United States in the late 1700s: John Bartram's plant catalog offered it for sale from 1771-1809. George Washington, a good customer of Bartram's, grew lamb's ears at Mount Vernon. Using it during the U.S. Civil War as a bandage is possible. However, although it has naturalized some, it is not currently widespread in the eastern United States. Herb books from the last 100 years don't mention it at all. At least one website confuses mullein (Verbascum thapsus) with lamb's ears. Mullein was a well-known widely-used medicinal plant with fuzzy leaves suitable for binding wounds, so the mix up online makes me uncertain. Other Stachys species have much more written about them as medicines. I am searching for additional information. 

 

Lamb's ears appears to have some antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory compounds in its leaves, but it has not received much study. 

Another online source recommended lamb's ears' leaves as toilet paper. They should certainly work for that. 

In parts of Europe and in Brazil, lamb's ears leaves are eaten. Brazilians fry or deep fry them, finding them reminiscent of fried fish. Young leaves are eaten as salad greens. 

This is a pretty garden plant or tall ground cover. It grows easily and tolerates heat and drought.

Comments and corrections welcome.

References

Bartlett, J. 2017. Lamb's Ear. Stachys byzantina. Jeremy Bartlett's Let It Grow Big.  link Accessed 8/16/26

Cretti, J. 2003. Rocky Mountain Gardener's Guide. Cool Springs Press. Nashville, Tennessee. 

 

Harlow, N. no date given. Stachys byzantina. Summer-Dry.com link Accessed 8/16/26.

Lima JADS, Leite VC, Silva JP, Ferrarez MA, Bahia GD, Rezende LVN, Guedes MCMR, Macedo GC, Silva NPD, Tavares GD, Reis ACC, Follis GO, Lempk VV, Fernandes MF, Scio E, Pinto NCC. 2024 Stachys byzantina K. Koch in the treatment of skin inflammation: A comprehensive evaluation of its therapeutic properties. ACS Omega. 9(50):49899-49912. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.4c08830. link Accessed 8/16/26

Messick, D. R. 2022. The lore behind the alluring lamb's ears. Shore Home and Garden link Accessed 8/16/26

Mount Vernon's Gardens https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/gardens-landscapes/plant-finder/item/lambs-ears Accessed 8/16/26

Kathy Keeler
A Wandering Botanist
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