Hedge Woundwort, Stachys sylvatica is a tall purple spike of a flower that belong to the family Lamiaceae, commonly known as the Mint or Dead-nettle family.
It is a flower of hedgerow and woodland and grows well in shade. The flowers are arranged in whorls or rings on the upright spike. Each whorl has about six flowers and there are green leafy bracts below each ring of flowers.
The leaves are heart shaped and toothed. The plant as the name suggests has long been used in herbal medicine, mostly applied to wounds to staunch blood and close the wound, Don’t eat it, it is not internal medicine.
In the field, if you cut yourself in the right season, pick the leaves and cover the wound as you would with a plaster.
The stem is square and covered in fine hairs. The stem is solid unlike most Dead-nettles, which are hollow stemmed.
So it is useful and it is pretty, it grows in the hedgerow in summer but there is more to it than that.
This isn’t a post about the flower. Woundwort comes with it’s own shiny, beautiful, little bug and this is a post about nature’s jewellery.
The Woundwort Shieldbug, Eysarcoris venustissimus is a small and exquisitely beautiful bug that feeds on Woundwort. It is made of platinum with rich copper insets on the back and face and tiny gemstones set around the border.
If you have woundwort growing near you then you almost certainly have these little bugs too, it is well worth having a close look.
That is a very nice accessory for a flower to have.
A Tramp in the Woods 
Beautiful pictures and post. I’d never heard of this nettle. We have stinging nettle in my neck of the woods, but this is something new. Love the shield bug as well. We have a different variety, have no idea of the name, that I’ve found on milkweed when looking for Monarch eggs.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and liking my post. I have enjoyed looking through your blog. Hope to see you again. ~ Tilly
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Hi Tilly, Sorry to be so late in replying. I liked the flowers that you posted, I thought that I recognised Creeping Charlie sometimes known as Ground Ivy and the Violet looked a bit like our Early Dog Violet, most I didn’t recognise. I love seeing other parts of the world and how they are getting on in comparison to my patch. You have a nice blog, I have just been having another look and I’m glad you bathed that dog 🙂
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