E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Lamium amplexicaule L.
common dead-nettle (henbit deadnettle; henbit dead-nettle)
Lamiaceae (Mint family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Virginia Skilton  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #13026)

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Distribution of Lamium amplexicaule
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Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a short taproot; stems slender, weak, ascending or reclining with tips ascending, 10-40 cm long, generally branched from the base, glabrous to inconspicuously hairy, 4-angled.
Leaves:
Opposite, rounded to egg- or heart-shaped, 1-2 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, margins coarsely blunt-toothed or with small lobes, hairy on upper surface; lower leaves stalked, upper leaves unstalked and clasping.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of several well-spaced flower clusters in axils of leaf-like bracts, the bracts unstalked, usually wider than long; corollas tubular, purplish, 12-18 mm long, glabrous inside, hairy outside, strongly 2-lipped, the upper corolla lip erect, oval, hood-like, hairy, 3-5 mm long, the middle lobe of lower corolla lip spotted, the lateral lobes very small, represented by a short tooth; calyces 5-8 mm long, 5-veined, the teeth narrow and erect with pointed tips, about the length of the tube, hairy; occasional plants produce small, unopened flowers.
Fruits:
Nutlets, 4 clustered together, three-angled, squared-off at tips.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry waste places and grassy fields in the lowland to montane zones; frequent in SW BC, rare northward and eastward; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Lamium amplexicaule var. album A.L. Pickens & M.C. Pickens

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References