''Lamium'' (dead-nettles) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of about 30

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants t ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

, of which it is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal ...

. They are all

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, and northern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, but several have become very successful

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...

s of crop fields and are now widely

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

across much of the temperate world.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant families
/ref>

Description

The genus includes both

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

and

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

species; they spread by both

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiosper ...

s and stems rooting as they grow along the ground. They have square stems and coarsely textured pairs of leaves, often with striking patterns or variegation. They produce double-lipped flowers in a wide range of colours. The common name "dead-nettle" has been derived from the German ''taube-nessel'' ("deaf nettle", or "nettle without a kernel"), and refers to the

resemblance Resemblance may refer to: *Similarity (philosophy) *Resemblance nominalism * Family Resemblance (anthropology) *Ludwig Wittgenstein's family resemblances *In text mining, the degree to which two documents resemble each other, calculated using shing ...

of ''

Lamium album ''Lamium album'', commonly called white nettle or white dead-nettle, 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, fe ...

'' to the very distantly related

stinging nettles ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Ori ...

, but unlike those, they do not have stinging hairs and so are harmless or apparently "dead". Several closely related genera were formerly included in ''Lamium'' by some

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

s, including '' Galeopsis'' (hemp-nettles) and ''

Leonurus ''Leonurus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, naturalized in New Zealand, Hawaii, New Caledonia, and much of North and South America. ''Leonurus japonicus'' is one of the 50 fundamental h ...

'' (motherworts).

Cultivation

''Lamium'' species are widely cultivated as

groundcover Groundcover or ground cover is any plant that grows over an area of ground. Groundcover provides protection of the topsoil from erosion and drought. In an ecosystem, the ground cover forms the layer of vegetation below the shrub layer known as ...

, and numerous

cultivars A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

have been selected for garden use. They are frost hardy and grow well in most soils. Flower colour determines planting season and light requirement: white- and purple-coloured flowered species are planted in spring and prefer full sun. The yellow-flowered ones are planted in fall (autumn) and prefer shade. They often have invasive habits and need plenty of room.

Ecology

''Lamium'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described speci ...

species including angle shades,

setaceous Hebrew character The setaceous Hebrew character (''Xestia c-nigrum'') is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. It is found in the Palearctic realm. It is a common specie ...

and the ''

Coleophora ''Coleophora'' is a very large genus of moths of the family Coleophoridae. It contains some 1,350 described species. The genus is represented on all continents, but the majority are found in the Nearctic and Palaearctic regions. Many authors ...

'' case-bearers ''C. ballotella'', ''C. lineolea'' and ''C. ochripennella''. ; Species * ''

'' L. – (white dead-nettle) – widespread across Europe + northern Asia from Spain + Norway to Japan + Kamchatka; naturalized in New Zealand + North America * ''

Lamium amplexicaule ''Lamium amplexicaule'', commonly known as common henbit, or greater henbit, is a species of ''Lamium'' native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa. It is a low-growing annual plant growing to tall, with soft, finely hairy stems. The leaves are ...

'' L. – (henbit dead-nettle) – widespread across Europe and northern Asia from Spain + Norway to Japan + Kamchatka, as well as North Africa, Ethiopia, Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands; naturalized in New Zealand, Hawaii, South America + North America * '' Lamium bifidum'' Cirillo – Mediterranean from Portugal to Romania * '' Lamium caucasicum'' Grossh. – Caucasus (southern European Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan) * '' Lamium confertum'' Fr. – northern Europe from Ireland to northern Russia; naturalized in Greenland + Iceland * '' Lamium coutinhoi'' J.G.García – Portugal * '' Lamium demirizii'' A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey * '' Lamium eriocephalum'' Benth. – Turkey * '' Lamium flexuosum'' Ten. – Spain, France, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia * '' Lamium galactophyllum'' Boiss. & Reut. – Turkey * ''

Lamium galeobdolon ''Lamium galeobdolon'', commonly known as yellow archangel, artillery plant, aluminium plant, or yellow weasel-snout, is a widespread wildflower in Europe, and has been introduced elsewhere as a garden plant. It displays the zygomorphic flower mo ...

'' (L.) L. – northern + central Europe and western Asia from Spain + Denmark east to Iran + Western Siberia; naturalized in New Zealand + Madeira * '' Lamium garganicum'' L. – Mediterranean + western Asia from Portugal to Kazakhstan + Saudi Arabia * '' Lamium gevorense'' (Gómez Hern.) Gómez Hern. & A.Pujadas – Spain, Portugal, Corsica * '' Lamium glaberrimum'' (K.Koch) Taliev – Crimea * '' Lamium × holsaticum'' Prahl – central Europe ''(L. album × L. maculatum)'' * '' Lamium macrodon'' Boiss. & A.Huet – Turkey, Caucasus, Syria, Iran, Iraq * ''

Lamium maculatum ''Lamium maculatum'' (also known as spotted dead-nettle, spotted henbit and purple dragon) is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native throughout Europe and temperate Asia (Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, western China). Descript ...

'' (L.) L. – (spotted white dead-nettle, purple dragon) – Europe + Middle East from Portugal to Turkey; also Gansu + Xinjiang Provinces of western China * '' Lamium moluccellifolium'' (northern dead-nettle) * '' Lamium moschatum'' Mill. – eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus) * '' Lamium multifidum'' L. – Turkey, Caucasus * ''

Lamium orientale ''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 success ...

'' (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) E.H.L.Krause – Turkey, Syria, Palestine * '' Lamium orvala'' L. – Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia * '' Lamium purpureum'' L. (red dead-nettle) – northern + central Europe and western Asia from Spain + Denmark east to Caucasus + Siberia; naturalized in Korea, Taiwan, North America, New Zealand, Argentina, Falkland Islands * '' Lamium taiwanense'' S.S.Ying – Taiwan * '' Lamium tomentosum'' Willd. – Turkey, Caucasus, Iran, Iraq * '' Lamium vreemanii'' A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey

References

{{Authority control Lamiaceae genera Garden plants Flora of Europe Flora of Serbia Flora of Africa