''Lamium bifidum'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the mint family

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family (biology), 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 (herb), ba ...

, native to the

Southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...

. It was first described by

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Domenico Cirillo in 1788.

Description

''Lamium bifidum'' is an annual

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 o ...

. It possesses an erect or decumbent stem, white flowers and a deeply bifid lower lip. Flowers form in verticillasters of 20 or more flowers. These flowers are sometimes cleistogamous. An analysis of the

essential oil An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the ...

of ''Lamium bifidum'' bracts and leaves identified the highest constituents as germacrene D (34.9%), β-caryophyllene (11.5%) and α-Humulene (6.8%). This contrasted with the primary constituents identified in the flowers: myrcene (47.2%), β-caryophyllene (11.8%) and sabinene (11.0%). The species possesses a chromosome count of 2n = 18.

Taxonomy

Domenic Cirillo first described ''Lamium bifidum'' in his ''Plantarum Rariorum Regni Neapolitani'', published in 1788. John Isaac Briquet's 1897 taxonomy placed the species within the subsection ''Amplexicaulia'', within the larger section ''Pollichia''. Jacob Mennema's 1989 revision of the genus narrowed its close relations, placing it instead within the Subgenus Lamium, in a smaller Section Lamium on the basis of morphological similarities, namely a straight corolla tube and presence of bracteoles. This section consists of ''L. bifidum'' as well as ''

Lamium purpureum ''Lamium purpureum'' (from Latin ''purpureum'' – purple), known as red dead-nettle, purple dead-nettle, or purple archangel, is an annual herbaceous flowering plant. It is native to Eurasia but can also be found in North America. Description ' ...

'' and ''

Lamium confertum ''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 Eurasia and northern Africa, with several widely naturalised across muc ...

''. 21st century

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies brought this change into question however, finding a closer genetic relationship between ''L. bifidum'' and ''

Lamium amplexicaule ''Lamium amplexicaule'', commonly known as henbit dead-nettle, is a species of ''Lamium'' native to most of Europe, Asia and northern Africa. The specific name (botany), specific name refers to the leaves, which are Amplexicaul leaf, amplexicaul ...

'' var. ''amplexicaule'' and '' Lamium incisum''. A 2016 study of

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

structuring provided further evidence for this closer relation to the species of section ''Amplexicaule'' rather than section ''Lamium''. Authors have identified as many as four subspecies: *subsp. ''bifidum'' *subsp. ''albimontanum'' Rech. f. - endemic to Crete *subsp. ''balcanicum'' Velen. endemic to the Balkan Peninsula & Romania, specifically the west Moesian-south Dacian area *subsp. ''gevorense'' Gómez Hern. - endemic to Spain - identified in 1977, but proposed in 2005 to be raised as a separate species, ''Lamium gevorense'' The ''albimontanum'' and ''balcanicum'' subspecies are distinguished from the type species by their pink or purple flowers. ''Lamium bifidum'' var. ''clandestinum'' was previously raised to the separate species of ''Lamium cryptanthum'', but this is now merely regarded as a synonym.

Distribution

''Lamium bifidum'' has been described as having a broadly Mediterranean distribution. One or more subspecies have been documented as present in parts of Bulgaria, Corsica, Crete, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Sardinia, Spain, Tunisia and the former Yugoslavia. The species inhabits open spaces and clearings, waste places, mountain slopes and forest edges.

Uses

A chemical constituent of ''Lamium bifidum'', hesperetin, has identified anti-estrogen, tumorigenesis and breast cancer cell inhibition properties.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15296999 bifidum Flora of Bulgaria Flora of Corsica Flora of Crete Flora of Greece Flora of Italy Flora of Portugal Flora of Romania Flora of Sardinia Flora of Spain Flora of Tunisia Flora of Yugoslavia Plants described in 1788