| White Dead-nettle | Mint/Dead-nettle family |
| Lamium album | Labiatae/Lamiaceae |
White Dead-nettle has whorls of white flowers up the stalk, where each flower has a hairy upper lip.
One of the plant's alternative names is Adam-and-Eve-in-the-Bower, alluding to the pair of black and yellow stamens
that lie side by side in the domed upper lip of the flower.
The flowers are especially popular with bees, since there is plenty of nectar at the base of each flower.
The flowers are most prolific in spring, but it often has a second flowering in autumn.
Its leaves are very similar in shape to those of a stinging nettle, but although they are covered in hairs
like a stinging nettle, they do not sting.
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| Whorl of flowers, showing teeth and streaks on lower lip | Hairy upper lip |
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Technical Information
Perennial herb, 20-60cm tall, square stem Leaves opposite, oval but heart-shaped at base, stalked, 3-7cm long, pointed, coarse-toothed and nettle-shaped but stingless Calyx: tubular, 5 triangular pointed teeth Flowers: white, 2 cm long, in whorls, fused petals with hairy hood and 2 lobes on lower lip with and greenish streaks, 2-3 small teeth in petals, tube curved near base Flowering time: April-December; most prolific in spring but is often in flower during the autumn and winter months Habitat: Hedgebanks, roadsides, waste ground Distribution: Very common throughout Britain (except N.Scotland) |