Once you touch the leaves on this plant, you'll know why it is nicknamed Lamb's Ear. The leaves are velvety soft, like the ears of a baby sheep. They look pretty, too, with their silvery sheen in the light. Gardeners like to grow Lamb's Ear to contrast all the green leaves in their garden.

A FAMILY OF HERBS

Lamb's Ear is part of the Lamiaceae (lay-mee-AY-see-ay) family of plants. This is the Mint family, which includes all sorts of sweet-smelling plants that we call "herbs" because they're useful for cooking and medicine. Lamb's Ear plants aren't smelly, but they do have decorative leaves like other members of the Mint family.

GOOD MEDICINE

Lamb's Ear has been grown in household herb gardens for hundreds of years, along with other plant families used for cooking or medicine.

The soft, fuzzy leaves of the Lamb's Ear are very absorbent, so they were widely used for bandages before the easy peel-and-stick kind came along. Lamb's Ear leaves absorbed blood and kept the wound protected and clean so it could heal.

Your Lamb's Ear leaves will look quite small at first, but they can grow as large as 6 inches long. Perfect for covering wounds!

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The scientific name for Lamb's Ear, Stachys byzantina, describes how the plant looks and where it comes from. Below you can see how it breaks down.