What is this plant with long thin leaves with serrated edges and spikes of pink flowers?

Question

Can anyone identify this plant with long thin leaves with serrated edges and spikes of pink flowers at the tip of the stem? Is it a weed? Getting quite a few growing around my garden and not sure whether to pull them out or not.

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Thanks!

Water it. If it dies, it wasn't a weed. Alternatively, you could pull it up. If it grows back, its a weed. — Randy, Jul 20 '13 at 22:13

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 19 '13 at 13:48

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I think it is Stachys palustris: marsh woundwort or marsh hedgenettle. It is related to wood betony or heal-all (Stachys officinalis). We have several colonies growing in the wet meadow areas along a local creek. I live in Denmark, where the plant isn't a problem, but it's regarded as a 'noxious weed' in Maine (USA). See http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?312174

answered Aug 19 '13 at 13:48

susanabra

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I think you're right, it's certainly spreading like a weed. I suspected as much. Thanks (I live in the UK btw). – Phil Hawthorn Aug 19 '13 at 20:43

Patrick B. · Answer 2 · 2013-07-23T16:22:01.210

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Take a leave between two fingers and rub it - then smell your fingers. If it smells minty go and make yourself a tea or a put them into the salad.

It looks to me like a kind of Mentha. But it could be something else which it resembles. I'm not sure.

Whether you consider it a weed or not depends on you and your garden-desgin and feelings: Does this plant fit in your garden or not? Do you like it?

In a herb-garden a mentha is welcome.

edited Jul 23 '13 at 16:22

answered Jul 21 '13 at 05:05

Patrick B.

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Thanks for your advice, doesn't smell minty but I'm fairly ambivalent about it so it can stay for now :) – Phil Hawthorn Jul 21 '13 at 08:35
Looks like mint to me too. Very invasive and hard to control. – OrganicLawnDIY Jul 24 '13 at 16:09
@OrganicLawnDIY that stacks up, it's now growing out of the flowerbed into the lawn – Phil Hawthorn Jul 27 '13 at 08:51

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 22 '13 at 11:58

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It's a Salvia of some description, not sure which variety, there are so many. Height and spread will help with ID.

answered Jul 22 '13 at 11:58

Bamboo

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The largest one is about 2' in height, the one pictured is actually the largest one. Whatever it is, they are sprouting a lot, even popping up in the edge of the lawn. – Phil Hawthorn Jul 27 '13 at 08:48

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 26 '13 at 20:45

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That is Betony. We have some in our Southern Ontario lawn that escaped from a flower bed. We mow around it, because it's nice, but it sure will spread if you let it. Plenty of pictures online you can compare to, to be sure. The leaves of ours do not smell minty at all.

answered Jul 26 '13 at 20:45

Kate Gregory

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I'm not sure it is Betony looking at those pictures, the leaves on there look softer/rounder + the flowers look different to me. That said, it is spreading very quickly into our lawn too – Phil Hawthorn Jul 27 '13 at 08:52

What is this plant with long thin leaves with serrated edges and spikes of pink flowers?

4 Answers4