Stachys türleri, aktarlar (atar, herbalist) tarafından kanser, ülser, dalak bağ doku iltihabı, yangılı tümörlerde iyileştirici olarak Türkiye ve İran gibi ülkelerde kullanılmaktadır. Yapılan analizlerde α-pinene (22.68%), eucalyptol (%4.40), terpinen-4-ol (4.36%) ve yağ (92,2%) oranları bu- lunmuştur. Araştırma konusu seçilen Stachys rupestris, Mersin’de (C4 karesi) 50-1100 m’lerde harabeler ve dağlık kesim- lerdeki taşlar üzerinde yaşayan endemik bir tür olup, daha önce içerik araştırması yapılmamıştır

Natural products of plant origin are still a major part of traditional medical systems in developing countries. There has also been a resurgence of interest in herbal medicines in Western countries as alternative sources of drugs for often intractable diseases. The genus Stachys L. comprises more than 270 species and is considered to be one of the largest of the Lamiacea. Stachys species have long been used in traditional medicine to treat genital tumors, sclerosis of the spleen, inflammatory tumors, and cancerous ulcers. In the present investigation of Stachys rupestris is an endemic specie which lives on ruins and stones locating at highlands (50-1100 m) in Mersin (square C4) and it’s never been researched before. In this study, essential oil of Stachys rupestris was extracted from dried areial parts by hyrodistillation and subcritical water extraction then analyzed by GC/MS. The main constituents were found as α-pinene (22.68%), vit.A alcohol (22.40%), eucalyptol (4.40%), terpinen-4-ol (4.36%).