Woolly Lamb’s Ear is a remarkable little plant. It is hardy and drought tolerant, but oh so soft and lovely.
You will find yourself seeking out Woolly Lamb’s Ear when in the garden.
For all of its softness, it is not a delicate plant. Woolly Lamb’s Ear is one of the first plants in our garden in spring and one of the last in fall. It is a perennial plant (in our Zone 4 garden) and once you start it from seed in year one, you will continue to have it year after year.
In North America, Woolly Lamb’s Ear is mainly used as an ornamental, but in other parts of the world it has a long history of medicinal use.
A bit about its medicinal use (or skip below for ‘How to Plant‘):
We love learning about the plants we grow — and came across an interesting paper about the medicinal use of Woolly Lamb’s Ear. Mind the long title, “The health benefits of three Hedgenettle herbal teas (Stachys byzantina [Lamb’s Ear], Stachys inflata, and Stachys lavandulifolia): profiling phenolic and antioxidant activities.” In this paper, the authors write:
“In traditional medicine, the aerial parts of S. byzantina [Woolly Lamb’s Ear] are used for the treatment of infections, wounds, asthma, dysentery, epilepsy, digestive disorders, common cold, rheumatic disorders, and neuropathy. In addition, recent investigations showed potent biological activities (e.g., anticancer, anti-inflammation, antioxidant, anti-malaria, anti-spasmodic, and anti-rheumatoid) of Stachys species.”
To investigate the medicinal properties of Woolly Lamb’s Ear (and the other Stachys species), the authors measured the biological activities of decoctions (herbal tea) of the three Stachys species.
Their goal was: (1) to measure the antioxidant potential of the herbal teas and (2) to see how well the herbal teas inhibited enzymes associated with Alzheimer’s, diabetes type II, melasma, and obesity.
To sum up their results:
(1) In terms of antioxidant potential: Woolly Lamb’s ear (S. byzantina) herbal tea was a rich source of phenolic and flavonoid compounds. In total 14 phenolic components were found (Chlorogenic Acid, Catechin and Rosmarinic Acid were the major bioactive compounds). All 3 species of Stachys showed strong free radical scavenging ability.
(2) In terms of how well the Stachys plants inhibited enzymes associated with Alzheimer’s, diabetes type II, melasma and obesity: The authors write: “Stachys decoctions showed promising health benefits through therapeutic key enzyme inhibitory activity.” The Stachys decoctions showed a moderate therapeutic inhibition of an enzyme associated with Alzheimer’s and a strong inhibition of an enzyme associated with melasma.
Take Home Point — This soft and fuzzy plant is not so gentle on the trouble-makers! The authors write: “Nature is an excellent source for bioactive compounds with more therapeutic benefits and less adverse effects.”
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How to Plant: Ease of Germination: Easy. Start Stachys indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Plant seeds about 5mm (¼ inch) below the soil surface and keep moist until germination. You can also plant seeds in the garden. At full size, plants spread 30 to 45 cm (12-18″) across.
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How to Use: Use a teaspoon of fresh or dried Stachys leaf for 1 cup of tea. Steep for 5 minutes. It tastes a bit like green tea.
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Location: Sun, Partial sun
Life cycle: Perennial (Zones 4 and up) or Grow as an Annual
Usable Parts: Leaves (dried, fresh)
Uses: Tea
Height: spread 12 to 18 inches at full size
