Israel wildflowers: White Hedge-nettle

Prasium majus, White Hedge-nettle, Great Hedge-nettle,
Hebrew: פרסיון גדול, Arabic: براسيون كبير

Scientific name:   Prasium majus L.
Common name:   White Hedge-nettle, Great Hedge-nettle
Hebrew name:   פרסיון גדול
Arabic name:   براسيون كبير
Family:   Labiatae / Lamiaceae, שפתניים


Life form:   Chamaephyte, semi-shrub
Leaves:   Opposite, entire, dentate or serrate
Flowers:   White
Flowering Period:   January, February, March, April, May, June
Habitat:   : Mediterranean maquis and forest
Distribution:   Mediterranean Woodlands and Shrublands, Semi-steppe shrublands, Shrub-steppes
Chorotype:   Mediterranean
Summer shedding:   Perennating

Location: Road 3415, Gad Hills (Givad Gad)

Derivation of the botanical name:

Prasium, used by Plinius for an herb, white horehound; Theophrastus applied Greek prasion to horehound, a species of Marrubium.

majus, bigger, larger.
The Hebrew name: פרסיון, parsion, a transliteration and translation of the Latin name.

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