280 ACTA BOT. CROAT. 84 (2), 2025 Acta Bot. Croat. 84 (2), 280–283, 2025 CODEN: ABCRA 25 DOI: 10.37427/botcro-2025-021 ISSN 0365-0588 eISSN 1847-8476 Short communication Stachys ocymastrum (Lamiaceae) – a new plant species in Croatia Dragica Purger1*, Jenő J. Purger2, Marija Pandža3, Nenad Jasprica4 1 University of Pécs, Faculty of Pharmacy, Institute of Pharmacognosy, Rókus str. 6, HU-7624 Pécs, Hungary 2 University of Pécs, Faculty of Sciences, Institute of Biology, Ifjúság str. 6, HU-7624 Pécs, Hungary 3 Stjepan Radić St. 30, HR-22240 Tisno, Croatia 4 University of Dubrovnik, Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, Dubrovnik, Kneza Damjana Jude 12, HR-20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia Abstract – Stachys ocymastrum (L.) Briq. (Lamiaceae) is an annual species native to the Western Mediterranean. During fieldwork, it was found in a ruderal site in the village of Veli Iž on the island of Iž (Zadar archipelago, Croatia) in May 2024. Since there are no earlier records of this species in Croatia, it should be considered a new taxon of this country’s flora and included in the current Flora Croatica Database. Additionally, this study reports S. ocymastrum for the first time on the eastern part of the Adriatic Basin. Keywords: Dalmatia, Eastern Adriatic, island, Italian hedge nettle, vascular flora Introduction The genus Stachys is one of largest genera of Lamiaceae and includes 372 accepted species (POWO 2024). It is dis- tributed mainly in the Mediterranean area and Southwest Asia, in North America, South America and southern Af- rica (Bhattacharjee 1980, Tundis et al. 2014, Salmaki et al. 2019). For the Euro-Mediterranean region 153 species of the Stachys genus have been listed (Euro+Med 2006-2024). They have different plant life forms, e.g. annual and peren- nial herbs and subshrubs (Bhattacharjee 1980). The Italian hedge nettle, Stachys ocymastrum (L.) Briq. (syn.: Galeopsis hirsuta L., Sideritis ocymastrum L.) is an an- nual plant distributed in the western part of the Mediterra- nean region, i.e. is native to Portugal, Spain, the Balearic Islands, France including Corsica, Italy including Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Greece including Crete, Morocco, Algeria, Tu- nisia, Libya, Madeira and the Canary Islands, as well as Leb- anon and it is introduced to North America (New Jersey) (Hassler 1994-2024, POWO 2024). Stachys ocymastrum is a scapose therophyte with an erect shoot (12-70 cm high) and simple or branched stems. The entire plant is covered with long silky, shiny hairs, with the indumentum consisting of both glandular and non- glandular trichomes. Leaves are from 1.6-6.5 cm long and 1.4-5 cm wide, oblong-ovate to broadly ovate, obtuse, and slightly cordate at base, with crenate-serrate margin. The leaves are opposite; the basal ones have a long (1.7-5.5 cm) petiole. The inflorescence consists of 4-18 verticillasters, with 2-6 flowers each, below rather remote but usually crowded above. Bracts are ovate (0.8-1.9 cm long and 0.4-1.1 cm wide) sessile, the upper ones entire, densely hairy on the margin; flowers have 1-1.5 mm long pedicel. Calyx is 8-12 mm long, hirsute, campanulate, with equal teeth (5-7 mm), as long as, or slightly longer than the tube, long pointed, al- most spiny, with yellow apices. Corolla is up to 16 mm long, white. Upper lip 4-8 mm long, bifid, its lobes 2–3 mm long, erect; lower lip with a large central lobe of 5-8 × 2.5-5.5 mm, spatulate, pale yellow with violet pattern. Stamens exserted from the tube, with thecae aligned with the filament. Mericarps 1.5-2 mm, smooth to warty, grey, or dark brown (Ball 1972, Morales and Pardo de Santayana 2010, Martin Mosquero et al. 2000). According to the Flora Croatica Database (FCD, Nikolić 2024), 18 Stachys species and 9 subspecies currently occur in Croatia. The presence of S. ocymastrum has never been reported for the country, including the eastern coast and islands of the Adriatic Sea. Here we present the first record of S. ocymastrum for Croatia, discovered during fieldwork on the island of Iž in the Middle Adriatic (Dalmatia). * Corresponding author e-mail: dragica@gamma.ttk.pte.hu STACHYS OCYMASTRUM IN CROATIA ACTA BOT. CROAT. 84 (2), 2025 281 Materials and methods The plant occurrence was documented with geographic coordinates, photographs as well as with herbarium sheets. Herbarium specimens were collected on 9 May 2024, and a voucher specimen was deposited in the Herbarium of the Faculty of Agronomy in Zagreb (ZAGR). For the identifi- cation we used Flora Europaea (Ball 1972), Flora d’Italia (Pignatti et al. 2017-2019) and Flora Croatica (Nikolić 2019). Study area The island of Iž is situated in the Zadar archipelago, sur- rounded by the islands of Ugljan, Rava and Dugi Otok (Fig. 1). It is 12.3 km long and up to 2.6 km wide, with an area of climate: a moderately warm rainy winter climate with a dry warm summer. The annual average temperature is 15 °C and the annual average precipitation is 880 mm (Zaninović et al. 2008). According to Köppen’s climate classification, the island lies within the Mediterranean climate zone of Csa-type, with hot-summers and mild winters (Köppen and Geiger 1954). According to the 2021 census, the island has 516 permanent residents, living in two settlements: Mali Iž and Veli Iž (Croatian Bureau of Statistics 2024). The island is a popular tourist destination in the summer. Results and discussion During our fieldwork on the island of Iž, plant speci- mens were collected and identified as Stachys ocymastrum (Fig. 2). It was found as follows: Croatia, northern Dalmatia, Zadar County, Island of Iž, Veli Iž village, main street (riva), 44.051767 N, 15.109506 E, elevation 1 m, 9 May 2024, leg. et det. D. Purger, herbarium ID number: ZAGR-79697. The population consisted of six individuals in the late stages of blooming (Fig. 2A). The morphological features of the plants corresponded to the description in the literature (Ball 1972, Martin Mosquero et al. 2000, Morales and Pardo-de- Santayana 2010). The plants were growing over a total area of about 20 m2 in grassland surrounded by shrubs near the path in the main street of the village of Veli Iž, maintained as the vil- lage’s green area. In the immediate surroundings, Oxalis articulata Savigny, Bromus sterilis L. and Geranium molle L. were recorded. According to the first observations about circumstances on the field, we consider the occurrence of the species native. Nevertheless, the possibility that it is the result of recent introduction cannot be excluded, since the plants were discovered at a ruderal site in the village’s main street, frequently visited by tourists. Indeed, the species oc- cupies similar ruderal habitats and, in general, it is not fre- Fig. 2. Stachys ocymastrum in the Veli Iž village, the island of Iž, Zadar County, northern Dalmatia, Croatia. A – habitus, B – inflores- cence, C – flower with a bifid erect upper lip and a violet pattern on the lower lip, D – calyx, E –mericarps and calyx. Scale bars: 5 mm (photos: A, B, E – D. Purger; C, D – M. Pandža). Fig. 1. The location of the island of Iž in the Zadar archipelago, Middle Adriatic (Dalmatia). 16.51 km2 and a coastline length of 35.22 km (Duplančić Leder et al. 2004). The main soil types are terra rossa devel- oped above limestone and sandy soils developed on the do- lomite substrate. The island has a typical Mediterranean PURGER D., PURGER J. J., PANDŽA M., JASPRICA N. 282 ACTA BOT. CROAT. 84 (2), 2025 quent and abundant in its natural habitats. In its entire dis- tribution area, S. ocymastrum is found from sea level up to lower mountains (up to 1000 m a.s.l.), along paths and road- sides, bordering paths, in grasslands, and scrublands. It grows on nutrient-rich soils and base-rich rocks, it is edaph- ic indifferent (Morales and Pardo-de-Santayana 2010, Acta plantarum 2024). In Spain and Italy, S. ocymastrum grows in dry and hot rocky places, mostly within dry grasslands and ruderal vegetation (Martin Mosquero et al. 2000, Bion- di et al. 2012, Pignatti et al. 2017-2019). In the suburban en- vironments of southern Italy, it is found within the vegeta- tion of the Chenopodietea class (Laface et al. 2022). It is also found in the evergreen Mediterranean cork-oak forests (Wojterski 1990), in both human-influenced and natural Mediterranean grasslands, e.g. grasslands dominated by Asphodelus ramosus L. (Zangari et al. 2023), as well as in agricultural land (e.g. in olive groves, Borkowsky 1994). Stachys ocymastrum flowers from February to June, rarely to July (Morales and Pardo-de-Santayana 2010). No estima- tion about status in its global range, but in Spain, this spe- cies is not rare; it belongs to the LC (Least concern) IUCN Category (Anonymous 2024). Our find is the first record of S. ocymastrum on the east- ern coast and islands of the Adriatic Sea. The northeastern limit of the distribution of this predominantly western Mediterranean species stretches to Italy (Pignatti et al. 2017- 2019). The population recorded in this study is located be- tween those reported from the province of Ancona in the central Adriatic side of the Italian peninsula (Biondi et al. 2012) and Ionian Islands (Greece) in the south (Borkowsky 1994). Since our survey was conducted on a botanically un- explored small island, this record reflects the lack of suffi- cient research on the Adriatic islands to date and highlights the need for further field surveys, which are essential for determining the actual distribution and ecology of S. ocymastrum in the eastern part of the Adriatic Basin. Acknowledgements This paper was published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Acta Botanica Croatica. Two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their helpful suggestions. Special thanks to Mr. Robert Strgačić for his hospitality during the fieldwork on Iž Island. Author contribution statement D.P. and J.J.P. conceived the floristic study on the island of Iž, D.P. and M.P. collected and identified of plant samples, D.P. and N.J. wrote the manuscript. All authors critically revised and approved its final version. References Acta Plantarum - Flora delle regioni italiane, 2024: Stachys ocy- mastrum (L.) Briq. Retrieved July 20, 2024 from: https://www. actaplantarum.org/flora/flora_info.php?id=504540 Anonymous, 2024: Stachys ocymastrum. Herbal Virtual del Med- iterrani Occidental. Retrieved October 10, 2024 from https:// herbarivirtual.uib.es/en/general/268/especie/stachys-ocymas- trum-l-briq- Ball, P. W., 1972: Stachys. In: Tutin, T. G., Heywood, V. H., Burges, N. A., Moore, D. M., Valentine, D. H., Walters, S. M., Webb, D. A. (eds.), Flora Europaea, vol. 3, 151–157. Cambridge Univer- sity Press, Cambridge. Bhattacharjee, R., 1980: Taxonomic studies in Stachys II. A new infrageneric classification of Stachys L. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 38, 65–96. Biondi, E., Gubellini, L., Pinzi, M., Casavecchia, S., 2012: The vas- cular flora of Conero Regional Nature Park (Marche, Central Italy). Flora Mediterranea 22, 67–167. https://doi.org/10.7320/ FlMedit22.067 Borkowsky, O., 1994: Übersicht der Flora von Korfu. Floristic In- vestigations of Corfu Ionian Islands / Greece. Braunschweiger Geobotanische Arbeiten 3. Universitätsbibliothek der Tech- nischen Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig. Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2024: Census of population, house- holds and dwellings in 2021 – population by settlements. Re- trieved July 16, 2024, from: https://dzs.gov.hr/u-fokusu/pop- is-2021/popisni-upitnik/english/results/1501 Duplančić Leder, T., Ujević, T., Čala, M., 2004: Coastline lengths and areas of islands in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea de- termined from the topographic maps at the scale of 1:25.000. Geoadria 9(1), 5–32. https://doi.org/10.15291/geoadria.127 Euro+Med, 2006–2024: Euro+Med PlantBase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Retrieved July 16, 2024 from http://www.europlusmed.org Hassler, M., 1994–2024: World Plants. Synonymic Checklist and Distribution of the World. Retrieved July 16, 2024 from: https:// www.worldplants.de/world-plants-complete-list/complete- plant-list/?name=Stachys-ocymastrum#plantUid-407511 Köppen, W., Geiger, R., 1954: Klima der Erde. Justus Perthes, Darmstadt. Laface, V. L. A., Musarella, C. M., Sorgonà, A., Spampinato, G., 2022: Analysis of the population structure and dynamic of en- demic Salvia ceratophylloides Ard. (Lamiaceae). Sustainability 14(16), 10295. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610295 Martin Mosquero, M. A., Juan, R., Pastor, J., 2000: Morphological and anatomical studies on nutlet of Stachys (Lamiaceae) from Southwest Spain. Thaiszia – Journal of Botany 10, 27–38. Morales, R., Pardo de Santayana, M., 2010: Stachys L. In: Castro- viejo, S., Morales, R., Quintanar, A., Cabezas, F., Pujadas, A., Cirujano, S. (eds.), Flora Iberica. Plantas Vasculares de la Península Ibérica e Islas Baleares, Verbenaceae-Labiatae-Cal- litrichaceae, vol. 12, 216–232. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Ma- drid. Nikolić, T., 2019: Flora Croatica – vaskularna flora Republike Hr- vatske, vol. 4. Ekskurzijska flora [Flora Croatica – vascular flo- ra of the Republic of Croatia, vol. 4. Excursion flora]. Alfa d. d., Zagreb. Nikolić, T. (ed.), 2024: Flora Croatica database. Retrieved July 16, 2024 from http://hirc.botanic.hr/fcd Pignatti, S., Guarino, R., La Rosa, M., 2017–2019: Flora d'Italia, 2a edizione. Edagricole di New Business Media, Bologna. POWO, 2024: Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved July 20, 2024 from http:// www.plantsoftheworldonline.org Salmaki, Y., Heubl, G., Weigend, M., 2019: Towards a new classifi- cation of tribe Stachydeae (Lamiaceae): Naming clades using molecular evidence. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 190(4), 345–358. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boz021 https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610295 https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Morales_Valverde https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Quintanar https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Cabezas https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Pujadas https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Santos_Cirujano STACHYS OCYMASTRUM IN CROATIA ACTA BOT. CROAT. 84 (2), 2025 283 Tundis, R., Peruzzi, L., Menichini, F., 2014: Phytochemical and bi- ological studies of Stachys species in relation to chemotaxono- my: A review. Phytochemistry 102, 7–39. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.phytochem.2014.01.023 Wojterski, T. W., 1990: Degradation stages of the oak forests in the area of Algiers. Vegetatio 87, 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1007/ BF00042950 Zangari, G., Bartoli, F., Lucchese, F., Caneva, G., 2023: Plant diver- sity in archaeological sites and its bioindication values for na- ture conservation: Assessments in the UNESCO site Etruscan Necropolis of Tarquinia (Italy). Sustainability 15(23), 16469. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316469 Zaninović, K., Gajić-Čapka, M., Perčec Tadić, M., Vučetić, M., Milković, J., Bajić, A., Cindrić, K., Cvitan, L., Katušin, Z., Kau- čić, D., Likso, T., Lončar, E., Lončar, Ž., Mihajlović, D., Pandžić, K., Patarčić, M., Srnec, L., Vučetić, V., 2008: Klimatski atlas Hrvatske [Climate atlas of Croatia] 1961–1990: 1971–2000. Državni hidrometeorološki zavod, Zagreb.