The study of morphological characteristics, antioxidant and essential oil contents of the medicinal plant Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl. in habitats of Semnan, Razavi,and North Khorasan provinces

Stachys lavandulifolia is one of the medicinal plants from genus of Stachys and Labiatae with different medicinal properties that is widely found in Iran. This research was based on a completely randomized design with three replications to investigate the morphological characteristics and phytochemical properties in four habitats in Semnan, Razavi and North Khorasan provinces in 2014. Morphological characteristics such as plant height, wet and dry root and shoot weights, root length, number of total flowers, number of open flowers and leaf, leaf area, and chlorophyll content were measured at the time of flowering. Also, essential oil yield and percentage, total phenols, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity were measured in flowering time. Morphological characteristics did not show any significant difference but essential oil yield and percentage showed a significant difference in different habits. The highes total phenol and antioxidant content were recorded for Shahrud and Mashhad, respectively. The amount of total phenol and flavonoid were determined in the leaves and the highest amount of antioxidant was recorded in flowers. Finally, the highest level of essential oil yield and percentage were recorded for Mashhad and decrease in the altitude and rainfall could be attributed increase in essential oil in Stachys lavandulifolia.