Lamium album, commonly called white dead-nettle,[2][3] is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native throughout Europe and Asia, growing in a variety of habitats from open grassland to woodland, generally on moist, fertile soils.
Yellow-haired male Bombus lucorum feeding from Lamium album
Lamium album is a rhizomatousherbaceousperennial plant growing to 50–100cm (20–39in) tall, with green, four-angled stems. The leaves are 3–8cm (1.2–3.1in) long and 2–5cm (0.79–1.97in) broad, triangular with a rounded base, softly hairy, and with a serrated margin and a petiole up to 5cm (2.0in) long; like many other members of the Lamiaceae, they appear superficially similar to those of the stinging nettle Urtica dioica but do not sting, hence the common name "dead-nettle". The flowers are white, produced in whorls ('verticillasters') on the upper part of the stem, the individual flowers 1.5–2.5cm (0.59–0.98in) long. The flowers are visited by many types of insects, but mostly by long-tongued insects, like bees.[4]
L.album was a source of chlorophyll and other plant pigments for Mikhail Tsvet, the inventor of adsorption chromatography.[8]
Taxonomy
Lamium album was described and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.[1]
Distribution and habitat
L. album is native to Eurasia, from Ireland in the west to Japan in the east. It has three subspecies, subsp. album in the western part of the range, subsp. crinitum in the southern part in southwest Asia (Turkey to Nepal), and subsp. barbatum in the far east of mainland Asia and in Japan.[9][10] It is common in England, rare in the west and northern Scotland, and introduced to eastern Ireland.[11] In the British Isles L. album is abundant, found on roadsides, around hedges, and in abandoned places.[2][12][13]
Insects, especially bumblebees are attracted to the flowers which are a good source of early nectar and pollen, hence the plant is sometimes called the bee nettle.[14][15]
Uses
The leaves are edible, and can be used in salads or cooked as a vegetable.
Cultural significance
A distillation of the flowers is reputed "to make the heart merry, to make a good colour in the face, and to make the vital spirits more fresh and lively."[16]
↑ Phenylpropanoid esters from Lamium album flowers. Jaromir Budzianowski and Lutoslawa Skrzypczak, Phytochemistry, March 1995, Volume 38, Issue 4, Pages 997–1001, doi:10.1016/0031-9422(94)00727-B
↑ Iridoid glucosides from Lamium album. Søren Damtoft, Phytochemistry, January 1992, Volume 31, Issue 1, Pages 175–178, doi:10.1016/0031-9422(91)83030-O
↑ Hemialboside, a hemiterpene glucoside from Lamium album. Søren Damtoft and Søren Rosendal Jensen, Phytochemistry, July 1995, Volume 39, Issue 4, Pages 923–924, doi:10.1016/0031-9422(95)00085-L
↑ Source book in chemistry 1900-1950, edited by Henry Leicester, p.23.
↑ Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. Excursion Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-04656-4
↑ Parnell, J. and Curtis, T. 2012. Webb's An Irish Flora. p.360 Cork University Press. ISBN978-185918-4783
↑ Hackney, P. (Ed) 1992. Stewart and Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland. Institute of Irish Studies and The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN0-85389-446-9
Lamium (dead-nettles) is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, of which it is the type genus. They are all herbaceous plants native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, but several have become very successful weeds of crop fields and are now widely naturalised across much of the temperate world.
Lonicera japonica, known as Japanese honeysuckle and golden-and-silver honeysuckle, is a species of honeysuckle native to East Asia, including many parts of China. It is often grown as an ornamental plant, but has become an invasive species in a number of countries. It is used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Lamium purpureum, known as red dead-nettle, purple dead-nettle, or purple archangel, is an annual herbaceous flowering plant native to Europe and Asia but it can also be found in North America.
Plantago lanceolata is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. It is known by the common names ribwort plantain, narrowleaf plantain, English plantain, ribleaf, lamb's tongue, and buckhorn. It is a common weed on cultivated or disturbed land.
Parietaria officinalis, the eastern pellitory-of-the-wall, also known as upright pellitory and lichwort, is a plant of the nettle family. Its leaves, however, are non-stinging. The plant grows on rubbish and on walls, hence the name.
Leonurus cardiaca, known as motherwort, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. Other common names include throw-wort, lion's ear, and lion's tail. Lion's tail is also a common name for Leonotis leonurus, and lion's ear, a common name for Leonotis nepetifolia. Originally from Central Asia and southeastern Europe, it is now found worldwide, spread largely due to its use as a herbal remedy.
Lamium galeobdolon, the yellow archangel, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It is native to Europe and western Asia but it is widely introduced in North America and elsewhere. It is the only species in the genus Lamium with yellow flowers. Another common name for this species is golden dead-nettle. In New Zealand, it is called the aluminium plant or artillery plant. The common names archangel and dead-nettle have been in use for hundreds of years, dating back to at least the 16th century.
Viburnum tinus, the laurustinus, laurustine or laurestine, is a species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae, native to the Mediterranean area of Europe and North Africa. Laurus signifies the leaves' similarities to bay laurel.
Ipomoea purpurea, the common morning-glory, tall morning-glory, or purple morning glory, is a species in the genus Ipomoea, native to Mexico and Central America.
Lamium amplexicaule, commonly known as henbit dead-nettle, is a species of Lamium native to most of Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Its status in Great Britain and Ireland is disputed; some sources give it as native, while others cite it as an archaeophyte. The specific name refers to the amplexicaul leaves.
Lamium maculatum is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native throughout Europe and temperate Asia.
Catalpol is an iridoid glucoside. This natural product falls in the class of iridoid glycosides, which are simply monoterpenes with a glucose molecule attached.
Aucubin is an iridoid glycoside. Iridoids are commonly found in plants and function as defensive compounds. Iridoids decrease the growth rates of many generalist herbivores.
Euphydryas cynthia, or Cynthia's fritillary, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the Alps and in mountainous areas of Bulgaria in alpine meadows from 400 to 2,300 meters.
Lamium orvala, known as balm-leaved archangel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Europe.
Clerodendrum infortunatum, known as bhat or hill glory bower, is a perennial shrub belonging to the family Lamiaceae, also sometimes classified under Verbenaceae. It is the type species among ~150 species of Clerodendrum. It is one of the most well-known natural health remedies in traditional practices and siddha medicine.
Stachys recta, commonly known as stiff hedgenettle or perennial yellow-woundwort, is herbaceous perennial plant of the family Lamiaceae.
Tulipa sylvestris, the wild tulip or woodland tulip, is a Eurasian and North African species of wild tulip, a plant in the lily family. Its native range extends from Portugal and Morocco to western China, covering most of the Mediterranean and Black Sea Basins, and Central Asia. The species is also cultivated as an ornamental and naturalized in central and northern Europe as well as a few scattered locations in North America. It was first recorded as being naturalised in Britain in the late 17th century.
Phlomoides tuberosa, the sage-leaf mullein, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia; SW Asia and Europe. Enlarged, tuberous roots give rise to erect stems to 150 cm bearing purple-red flowers.
Lamium hybridum, the cut-leaved dead-nettle, is a species of Lamium native to western and northern Europe and northwestern Africa. The specific name means 'hybrid'; however, Dominique Villars, in describing the species, did not give his reasons for selecting this name. The English name refers to the deeply cut leaves, unlike the shallower lobes of other related species of Lamium.
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