White deadnettle Lamium album
 
Family – Lamiaceae, mint family
Small creeping perennial up to 30 cm tall c50cm spread
Flowering – spring to autumn
Soils -  Most soils
Position – Full sun or partial shade
 
 
 
This is larger and more substantial than the closely related annual red deadnettle. It regarded as an archaeophyte, meaning a plant that  came to Britain with human help before 1500.  It is widely distributed in Europe and Asia and is found throughout Britain and Ireland1. and was first recorded botanically by Turner in 15482. .
 
It is a perennial, spreading by root-like stolons, and is very common in hedgerows, field margins and grassy places. It can be distinguished from the unrelated stinging nettle Urtica dioica by its square hairless stems and circles of small white flowers around the stems. The name "deadnettle" indicates that it does not sting, as do regional alternative names such as "deafnettle" and "dumbnettle". It is possible to remove the small flowers and bite the spur in order to suck a drop of sweet nectar3. , and this has given rise to other vernacular names such as "honey-flower" and "suck-bottle"4. .
 
It is very easy to grow in a garden situation.
 
It is pollinated by bumblebees, especially the common carder bumblebee Bombus pascuorum. The bee rests on the lip of the flower and inserts its proboscis (‘tongue’) into the back of the flower to get at the nectar. Meanwhile the flower deposits pollen onto the back of the bee, which the bee carries to other flowers where the pollen will brush against the stigma to effect pollination.  White deadnettle is a food plant for over 40 insect species of beetles, bugs and moths including the lovely day-flying Jersey tiger moth Euplagia quadripunctaria.
 
References
 
1. Stace, C. 2010  New Flora of the British Isles, Third Edition. P. 618.
 
2. Pearman, D. (2017). The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland, Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. P. 249
 
3. Mabey, R. 1996. Flora Britannica. P. 314.
 
4. Vickery, R. 2019. Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A to Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London.p 702
 
5. See the Biological Record Centre database  
 
 
Page written by Marc Carlton.  Compiled by Steve Head
White deadnettle Lamium album
 
Family – Lamiaceae, mint family
Small creeping perennial up to 30 cm tall c50cm spread
Flowering – spring to autumn
Soils -  Most soils
Position – Full sun or partial shade
 
 
 
This is larger and more substantial than the closely related annual red deadnettle. It regarded as an archaeophyte, meaning a plant that  came to Britain with human help before 1500.  It is widely distributed in Europe and Asia and is found throughout Britain and Ireland1. and was first recorded botanically by Turner in 15482. .
 
It is a perennial, spreading by root-like stolons, and is very common in hedgerows, field margins and grassy places. It can be distinguished from the unrelated stinging nettle Urtica dioica by its square hairless stems and circles of small white flowers around the stems. The name "deadnettle" indicates that it does not sting, as do regional alternative names such as "deafnettle" and "dumbnettle". It is possible to remove the small flowers and bite the spur in order to suck a drop of sweet nectar3. , and this has given rise to other vernacular names such as "honey-flower" and "suck-bottle"4. .
 
It is very easy to grow in a garden situation.
 
It is pollinated by bumblebees, especially the common carder bumblebee Bombus pascuorum. The bee rests on the lip of the flower and inserts its proboscis (‘tongue’) into the back of the flower to get at the nectar. Meanwhile the flower deposits pollen onto the back of the bee, which the bee carries to other flowers where the pollen will brush against the stigma to effect pollination.  White deadnettle is a food plant for over 40 insect species of beetles, bugs and moths including the lovely day-flying Jersey tiger moth Euplagia quadripunctaria.
 
References
 
1. Stace, C. 2010  New Flora of the British Isles, Third Edition. P. 618.
 
2. Pearman, D. (2017). The Discovery of the Native Flora of Britain and Ireland, Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. P. 249
 
3. Mabey, R. 1996. Flora Britannica. P. 314.
 
4. Vickery, R. 2019. Vickery’s Folk Flora, An A to Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. London.p 702
 
5. See the Biological Record Centre database  
 
 
Page written by Marc Carlton.  Compiled by Steve Head
           Garden Wildplants
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