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

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of about 30 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 ...

s in the 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 ...

, of which it is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') 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-bearin ...

. 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 o ...

s native to Eurasia and northern Africa, with several widely

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

across much of the temperate world.

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), a ...

and

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

species; they spread by both seeds 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.

Taxonomy

In volume 2 of ''

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

'' published in 1753, the Swedish botanist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

established

''Lamium'' by recognizing four

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

: ''Lamium album'', ''Lamium purpureum'', ''Lamium amplexicaule'', and ''Lamium multifidum''. The name ''Lamium'' is the primary generic name in use today. ,

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepts the following species: * ''

Lamium album ''Lamium album'', commonly called 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, fertile soils. Desc ...

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

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 ...

'' 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; naturalised in New Zealand, Hawaii, South America + North America * ''

Lamium bakhtiaricum ''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 ...

'' Jamzad – Iran * ''

Lamium bifidum ''Lamium bifidum'' is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to the Southern Europe. It was first described by botanist Domenico Cirillo in 1788. Description ''Lamium bifidum'' is an annual herbaceous plant. It poss ...

'' Cirillo – Mediterranean from Portugal to Romania * ''

Lamium bilgilii ''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 ...

'' Celep – Turkey * ''

Lamium cappadocicum ''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 ...

'' Celep & Karaer – Turkey * ''

Lamium caucasicum ''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 ...

'' Grossh. – Caucasus (southern European Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan) * ''

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 ...

'' Fr. – (northern dead-nettle) – northern Europe from Ireland to northern Russia; naturalised in Greenland + Iceland * ''

Lamium coutinhoi ''Lamium coutinhoi'' is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae, endemic to central and northern Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuri ...

'' J.G.García – Portugal * ''

Lamium cyrneum ''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 ...

'' Paradis –

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

* ''

Lamium demirizii ''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 ...

'' A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey * ''

Lamium eriocephalum ''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 ...

'' Benth. – Turkey * ''

Lamium flexuosum ''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 ...

'' Ten. – Spain, France, Italy, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia * ''

Lamium galactophyllum ''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 ...

'' Boiss. & Reut. – Turkey * ''

Lamium galeobdolon ''Lamiastrum 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 genu ...

'' (L.) L. – (yellow archangel) – northern + central Europe and western Asia from Spain + Denmark east to Iran + Western Siberia; naturalised in North America, New Zealand,

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

* ''

Lamium garganicum ''Lamium garganicum'' , known as the monte gargano deadnettle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. Distribution The monte gargano deadnettle is native to Europe, being most found in France. It can also be found in the Balkan ...

'' 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 ''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 ...

'' Prahl – central Europe ''(L. album × L. maculatum)'' * '' Lamium hybridum'' Vill. – (cut-leaved dead-nettle) – Europe,

Macaronesia Macaronesia (; ) is a collection of four volcanic archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlantic, North Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Africa and Europe. Each archipelago is made up of a number of list of islands in the Atlantic Oc ...

, North Africa * ''

Lamium macrodon ''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 much ...

'' Boiss. & A.Huet – Turkey, Caucasus, Syria, Iran, Iraq * ''

Lamium maculatum ''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 ...

'' L. – (spotted dead-nettle) – Europe + Middle East from Portugal to Turkey; also Gansu + Xinjiang Provinces of western China * '' Lamium moschatum'' Mill. – eastern Mediterranean (Greece, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Cyprus) * '' Lamium multifidum'' L. – Turkey, Caucasus * '' Lamium orientale'' (Fisch. & C.A.Mey.) E.H.L.Krause – Turkey, Syria, Palestine * '' Lamium orvala'' L. – Austria, Italy, Hungary, Slovenia * ''

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 ' ...

'' L. (red dead-nettle) – northern + central Europe and western Asia from Spain + Denmark east to Caucasus + Siberia; naturalised in Korea, Taiwan, North America, New Zealand, Argentina, Falkland Islands * ''

Lamium taiwanense ''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 much ...

'' S.S.Ying – Taiwan * '' Lamium × schroeteri'' Gams – France, Switzerland, Hungary * '' Lamium tomentosum'' Willd. – Turkey, Caucasus, Iran, Iraq * '' Lamium tschorochense'' A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey * ''

Lamium vreemanii ''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 naturalisation (biology ...

'' A.P.Khokhr. – Turkey Several closely related genera were formerly included in ''Lamium'' by some

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 ...

s, including ''

Galeopsis ''Galeopsis'' is a genus of annual herbaceous plants native to Europe and Asia. Members of this genus often have common names ending in hemp-nettle or hempnettle. Some species are naturalized in North America and New Zealand. The plants are pois ...

'' (hemp-nettles) and '' Leonurus'' (motherworts).

Etymology

The generic name ''Lamium'' was used by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

in the first century AD. The name comes from the Greek ''laimos'', which means "gullet", a reference to the gaping throat-like appearance of the corolla. The common name "dead-nettle" has been derived from the German ''Taubnessel'' ("deaf nettle", or "nettle without a kernel"), and refers to the

resemblance Resemblance may refer to: * Similarity (philosophy), or resemblance, a relation between objects that constitutes how much these objects are alike * Family resemblance (anthropology), physical similarities shared between close relatives * Family r ...

of ''

'' to the very distantly related stinging nettles, but unlike those, they do not have stinging hairs and so are harmless or apparently "dead".

Distribution and habitat

The species are native to Europe, Asia. and northern Africa, but several have become very successful

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

s of crop fields and are now widely

across much of the temperate world.Flora of China Vol. 17 Page 157 野芝麻属 ye zhi ma shu ''Lamium'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 579. 1753.
/ref>

Ecology

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

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

species including

angle shades The angle shades (''Phlogophora meticulosa'') 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 distributed throughout Europe as far east as the Urals and a ...

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 have t ...

'' case-bearers ''C. ballotella'', ''C. lineolea'' and ''C. ochripennella''.

Cultivation

''Lamium'' species are widely cultivated as

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

, and numerous

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s 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.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control Lamiaceae genera Garden plants