Flora of Israel | Palestine woundwort

Stachys palaestina, Palestine woundwort,
Hebrew: אשבל ארץ-ישראלי, Arabic: البطنج الفلسطيني

Scientific name:   Stachys palaestina L.
Common name:   Palestine woundwort
Hebrew name:   אשבל ארץ-ישראלי
Arabic name:   البطنج الفلسطيني
Family:   Labiatae / Lamiaceae, שפתניים


Location: Mount Carmel
Life form:   Chamaephyte
Stems:   Flowers clustered in the axils of the leaves on the upper part of the stem
Leaves:   Opposite, triangular leaves, serrate margins
Flowers:   Hermaphrodite, a cymose inflorescence in terminal spike; white, pink
Fruits / pods:   Homogeneous seeds-fruits; nutlets
Flowering Period:   April, May, June, July, August, September
Habitat:   Hard rock outcrops
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Montane vegetation of Mt. Hermon
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Perennating


Location: Mount Carmel

Derivation of the botanical name:

Stachys, Greek, a spike, relating to a spike.

palaestina, of or from Palestine.
The Hebrew name: אשבל, eshbol, a blend of אשכול, eshkol (=cluster), and שבולת, shibolet (=ear of corn).

  • The standard author abbreviation L. is used to indicate Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778), a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, the father of modern taxonomy.



Location: Mount Carmel

Location: Mount Carmel