Hairy ironwort
Sideritis hirsuta
Family · Lamiaceae · Harmless
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The grey hairy mint-family plant of limestone, with white or yellowish flowers in whorls along an upright spike. It is the base of one of the most drunk mountain infusions in Spain.
Uplands · Scrubland · Fields and pasture
Also known ashairy sideritis, mountain tea
How to tell it
A plant covered in long white hairs, giving it a woolly look and its name. A four-angled stem, as in the whole family. Flowers in separated whorls along the spike, with broad spiny bracts beneath each whorl, white or pale yellow with a short upper lip.
What it is confused with
No dangerous lookalikes known in the Iberian Peninsula.
What it is for
A traditional infusion across the eastern half of Spain, taken for stomach ache and colds, and sold at fairs under the name rabo de gato. Traditional use, in the past, and a plant that is over-gathered: in several Spanish ranges it is declining because of it.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.