Betony

Betony is a shortish, hairy plant with tall stems that throw out narrow, toothed leaves.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Betonica officinalis
Family: 
Mints and Dead-Nettles
Family Latin name: 
LAMIACEAE or LABIATAE
Category: 
Flowering Plants

Species description

Species description

Betony is a shortish, hairy perennial plant with tall stems that throw out narrow, toothed leaves. The flowers that top these stems form a spike of pink-purple tubes, each of which can be 12 - 18 millimetres long. These flowers appear between June and September. Betony is a native wild flower, widespread in hedge banks, woodlands and shaded gardens in Britain and Europe. The one seen in the Cemetery in June 2022 was planted. Alternative names for Betony are common hedgenettle, purple betony, wood betony, bishopwort and bishop's wort. This herbal plant was thought to be an old remedy for arthritis and gout. Sometimes it was used against snake bites and dog bites. Today herbalists prescribe Betony as a treatment for anxiety, gallstones, heartburn, migraine and neuralgia.

Species photographs

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Details

Species family information

Often aromatic, the members of this large family have square stems, and usually undivided leaves in opposite pairs. The flowers are normally two-lipped and open-mouthed.

Category information

Nucleic multicellular photosynthetic organisms lived in freshwater communities on land as long ago as a thousand million years, and their terrestrial descendants are known from the late Pre-Cambrian 850 million years ago. Embryophyte land plants are known from the mid Ordovician, and land plant structures such as roots and leaves are recognisable in mid Devonian fossils. Seeds seem to have evolved by the late Devonian. The Embryophytes are green land plants that form the bulk of the Earth’s vegetation. They have specialised reproductive organs and nurture the young embryo sporophyte. Most obtain their energy by photosynthesis, using sunlight to synthesise food from Carbon Dioxide and Water.

The earliest known plant group is the Archaeplastida, which were autotrophic. Listing just the surviving descendants, which evolved in turn, we have the Red Algae, the Chlorophyte Green Algae, the Charophyte Green Algae, and then the Embryophyta or land plants. The earliest embryophytes were the Liverworts, followed by the Hornworts, and the Mosses. Then we have the Vascular Plants, the Lycophytes and Ferns, followed by the Spermatophytes or seed plants, the Gnetophytes, Conifers, Ginkgos, and Cycads, and finally the Magnoliophyta (Angiosperms) or flowering plants.