| Author | Small ex Britton | |
| Distribution | Throughout the Mountains, and also ranges into the western and rarely the central Piedmont. Recorded east to Stokes, Iredell, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg counties.
This is mainly a Southern Appalachian endemic, but it ranges into the Piedmont more than most others. It ranges from MD and WV south to northwestern SC and northern GA.
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| Abundance | Frequent to common in the Mountains; rare to locally uncommon in the Piedmont foothills/ranges, but very rare into the central Piedmont. This is, by far, the most common native species of the genus in NC, even though it is limited to just the western third of the state. | |
| Habitat | This Stachys has a broad range of habitats and is thus the "default" species in the Mountains and western Piedmont. It occurs mostly in mesic to rather moist/rich forested slopes, but more so along wooded borders and roadbanks and other openings. It also grows in meadows and other man-made clearings; however, it is not normally found in wet ground of bogs, fens, etc., as are quite a few of the rare Stachys in the mountains. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from June to August, and fruits from September to October. | |
| Identification | This is the standard montane Stachys in NC, being fairly robust and reaching 2-2.5 feet tall, with a scattering of opposite leaves. The stem is glabrous on the sides, and only sparsely hairy on the angles. The leaves have only short petioles, about 1/5-inch long. The leaf blades are mainly narrowly ovate to lanceolate, and fairly long tapered to the acute apex, and with a rounded leaf base; the blade averages about 4 inches long and about 1-1.5 inches wide, about 3-4 times longer than wide. The inflorescence is rather typical of the genus, being essentially terminal and rather naked with small bracts, and numerous whorls of small pink flowers facing outward from the stem. It tends to differ from other montane species in its somewhat narrower leaves (often 3-4 times longer than wide) that are lanceolate or narrowly ovate, with a rounded leaf base and a short but distinct petiole. Most of the others in the region have wider to much wider leaves, and some have a cordate or more truncate leaf base. This is easily the most often encountered Stachys you will find in the mountains, often seen along trails, wooded margins, and other edges and openings. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Though long considered a good species, a few references consider it a variety of S. tenuifolia, named as S. tenuifolia var. latidens.
Stachys is a large and complex genus that is still actively being worked on, and our understanding of the species is slowly being clarified. For interested readers, we recommend journal papers by Nelson (1981, 2008) and by Fleming et al. (2011). | |
| Other Common Name(s) | None. Note that the common name -- "broad teeth" -- seems to not be a field mark mentioned in any reference. | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G4G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FAC link |
