White Dead Nettle
Lamium album

Family: Lamiaceae

What it is like

A herb which keeps growing from year to year. It is creeping. The stems are 30-60 cm high. They can have bristles. The leaves near the base are smaller. The leaf stalk of the upper leaves is 1-6 cm long. The upper leaf blade is oval or sword shaped and 2.5-6 cm long by 1.5-4 cm wide. There are teeth along the edge. The base is heart shaped. Flowers are purple-red.

There are about 40-50 Lamium species. The flowers are used in medicine. A wide range of constituents is found in L. album, including flavonoids and phenolic acids, fatty acids, iridoids, triterpenes, saponins, polysaccharides, essential oils, tannins, phytoecdisteroids and mucilages.

Where it is found

It is a temperate plant. In China it grows near the edge of forests. It grows in partly shaded places and occurs between 1400-2400 m altitude. It suits plant hardiness zones 3-9.

Countries/locations it is found in

Andorra, Asia, Australia, Balkans, Belarus, Britain, Caucasus, Central Asia, China, Estonia, Europe, Georgia, Himalayas, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Manchuria, Mediterranean, Middle East, Moldova, Mongolia, North America, Norway, NW India, Pakistan, Russia, Scandinavia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tajikistan, Tibet, Turkey, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan

How it is used for food

The young leaves are eaten as a snack. They are added to salads. They are also used in soup and as a potherb. The flowers are used to make herb tea.

The nectar is sucked by children. The leaves are foraged and used in restaurants in Sweden.

Edible parts

Leaves, stems, flowers - tea, nectar

How it is grown

Plants can be grown by seed. They can also be grown by division and from cuttings.

Its other names

Local names

Archangel, Arvacsalan, Balicak, Bela mrtva kopriva, Ch'inch'ris, Dauvnesle, Duan bing ye zhi ma, Dumb nettle, Emanoges, Hlucha pokriva, Imik, Imikas, Iminoges, Miiksmaasikad, Naistenoges, Nealuhak, Ortica dolce, Ortiche false, Ourtio biancio, Snow flake

Synonyms

Lamium album subsp. orientale Kamelin & A. L. Budantzev; Lamium petiolatum Royle ex Benth.;