California hedgenettle facts for kids
Quick facts for kids California hedgenettle |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Stachys
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| Species: |
bullata
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The Stachys bullata, also known as the California hedgenettle, is a cool flowering plant that belongs to the mint family. It's a special plant because it only grows in certain parts of California!
Where Does It Grow?
This unique plant is found only in California. When a plant or animal is found only in one specific place, we say it is endemic to that area. The California hedgenettle grows in the Central Coast Ranges, the Transverse Ranges, and other coastal mountains in the middle and southern parts of the state.
You can also find it living near the ocean, in places like the canyons of the Channel Islands. These are islands off the coast of California.
What Does It Look Like?
The California hedgenettle grows a straight stem that can reach up to about 80 centimeters (about 31 inches) tall. Imagine a plant that's almost as tall as a third-grader!
Its stem is covered in rough and soft hairs, and some of these hairs are glandular, which means they might feel a bit sticky. The leaves are also hairy and glandular. They can grow up to 18 centimeters (about 7 inches) long and grow in pairs directly opposite each other on the stem.
The plant's flowers grow in hairy, glandular clusters. These clusters are called an inflorescence, and they are made up of groups of six flowers each. Each flower has a pink, tube-shaped corolla (which is like the petals of the flower) that is about a centimeter long. This corolla sits inside a hairy calyx (which are the small, leaf-like parts that protect the flower bud).
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Stachys bullata, flower detail
